The Phantoms Arc: My way
by Knightwood
Summary: My own version of the Phantoms arc. Jellica has three of the crystal eyes, but with the destruction of Carnisoar and Grizzaka, she'll need reinforcements to keep her safe from Dai Shi and the Rangers.
1. Operation Fury

I'll be writing the Phantoms arc my own way, so bear with me while it takes place. There will be the odd crossover, (mostly just the characters involved) but on the whole, expect the script to be thrown out the window and totally re-written.

Anyway, time to get the usual stuff out of the way.

**Legal:** I do not own Power Rangers or the associated rights, names, characters, places, events etc. Any of the places, events etc. not covered by the above rights are to be considered solely the creation of the author. In the events of crossovers with the script (of which there shouldn't be many) Disney owns the rights, I don't.

**Rating: **T – May be some adult themes, violence etc.

**Timeline:** Immediately following the events of "The Rhino Ranger Arc: Re-written". As a quick re-cap, Dominic has very good reason to be upset. As a result of the battles to become the Rhino Ranger, he's made a startling discovery. Not only is Master Mao really his father, Jarrod is his brother. Realising that RJ knew but didn't tell him, the friends are now at odds, with Dominic feeling hurt and betrayed by RJ.

The next morning, Lily woke up to find the other side of the bed uncharacteristically empty. RJ had obviously gotten up early that day. She heard him getting ready in the bathroom and came to his side as he observed his appearance in the mirror. The left side of his face was horribly swollen and his cheekbone badly discoloured as a result of Dominic's punch the previous night. The two had been firm friends and used to regularly spar against each other, so they would occasionally hurt each other but this time it was different. Dominic hadn't tried to pull the punch in the slightest and had let fly with all of his strength. Truth be told, neither RJ nor Lily could really blame him for his reaction to the startling news.

"How's the face?" Lily asked him. "Apart from adorable I mean."

"It's still sore." RJ replied, stroking his face gingerly, wincing slightly as his fingers ran across the bruising. "My neck hurts like hell. Dominic's a lot stronger than he looks."

"RJ, he's just hurting." She told him, resting her head against his back and hugging him warmly. "I'm sure things will be fine in the long run."

"I'm not so sure." RJ responded in a sigh. "I've known Dom a long time. He's slow to anger and even slower to forgive. I've never seen him hurt this badly. I think this might be it for us."

"RJ, don't say that." Lily gasped, surprised by his statement. "You've been friends far too long to give up on him. You've got to talk to him. You've got to..."

"Say what exactly?" RJ asked her sarcastically. "Oh, sorry I kept quiet about the fact you were adopted and you have a brother you never knew about, fancy going for a beer?"

"Sarcasm doesn't look good on you." Lily commented, hitting him playfully. "You know what I mean. I know this will have hurt, but you can't just let things rest like this. I can see how much this has hurt you. You have to make things right with him."

RJ turned to her, and she could see the tears on his cheeks. She knew how upset he was that this had happened. They had talked long into the night about how Master Mao had revealed this most amazing of secrets to him, and how much it gnawed at him to keep it.

"Lily, I don't know if he can ever forgive me." He replied, hugging her tightly. "I should never have kept this from him. I should have said something..."

"Like you said, what exactly could you have said to him?" Lily began, before beginning to mimic RJ's voice, "Oh, sorry I kept quiet about the fact you were adopted and you have a brother you never knew about, fancy going for a beer?"

"But..."

"RJ, I know you were put in an impossible situation." Lily told him sympathetically. "If anything I blame Master Mao. He should have said something to him years ago. He certainly shouldn't have put all this on you. If he didn't say anything to Dom he shouldn't have said anything to you, it was always going to end in tears."

"I just wish there was something I could do to help him." RJ muttered, looking back to the mirror, again inspecting his injury. "Something tells me trying to talk to him is only likely to get me punched again."

"Do you want me to put some concealer on it?" Lily asked him. "It really does look pretty awful."

"I'll just stay in the kitchen." He replied with a bright grin. "I wouldn't want to scare off the customers. Just kiss it better and I'll be fine."

"I think I can manage that." Lily stated, pulling him down and kissing his swollen cheek gently.

"You know, I think my lips hurt a little too." RJ said cheekily. Lily just laughed and pulled him into a long, passionate kiss. RJ always felt better when he was with her. He was normally able to sort these things out in his mind himself, but Dominic was his best friend. The hurt and the emotion of the situation had clouded his mind. He still didn't have a clue how he was going to deal with the situation with Dominic, but with Lily by his side he felt a lot better.

Back in the fortress, Jellica secreted herself in a chamber hidden beyond the view of Dai Shi. Having witnessed both her fellow overlords being destroyed, she knew that she needed the support of the phantoms for her survival. The Rangers had already destroyed Grizzaka and Carnisoar, and she was certain Dai Shi would be hunting her for retribution over her defection. Especially now he had mastered the zukado powers, he was easily capable of destroying her, and would almost certainly be looking for an opportunity to do so. She opened the canvas sack, observing the three remaining crystal eyes with the passion of the desperate.

"The phantoms are my only hope, but I must survive until the alignment." She thought aloud. "Until then, I need to find some reinforcements to keep the wolves from the door."

She opened up a newspaper to a photograph, getting an idea immediately. Observing the main photograph, she immediately felt her spirits rising.

"I know just where to get them." She commented. "I guess it's time I visited San Angeles."

Will Aston woke up beside his live-in girlfriend, Rose Ortiz, stretching himself awake. Life had been good to him since his run with the Rangers. Andrew Hartford was so impressed with his skills as a recovery agent that he had put him to work testing security systems for one of his tech companies. He had found it a bit of a change at first, but he was now earning more than he had been risking his life breaking into the homes of some of the most dangerous people on the planet, and he got to wake up in the same bed every morning.

More than that, he got to wake up next to Rose. She had been a child prodigy and a university lecturer before he met her as a Ranger. He had to admit not being impressed at first, she was initially a shy, timid little thing, constantly hiding in the back of the group, only to remind everyone there was actually a fifth member of the team any time a technical question came up.

Over time though, he had gotten to know her better. He'd been impressed by her intelligence and her gentle, humble nature. He'd met more brainiacs than he cared to remember in his career, constantly regaling him for hours about the brilliance of their latest device, and desperately seeking any opportunity to remind him how smart they were, but Rose was different. She had initially been a little dismissive, almost embarrassed by her intelligence, seeing it as some kind of freakish part of her that invited scorn, but over time she'd come to accept it.

Dr. Hartford didn't have to be convinced too hard to hire Rose to the same company to design security systems. He had always shown an interest in hiring Rose, and Will managed to talk him into hiring her, telling him that if anyone was smart enough to beat him, she was.

Gently stroking her hair, he remembered how it had eventually become a game between them. They kept score of how often Rose's systems beat him, and how often he beat them. Even the other technicians had begun running a book on them, trying to figure whether Rose's intellect or Will's guile would be the victor. He had already grown extremely fond of her and had been on the verge of asking her out more than once before chickening out when it happened. One time, the alarm went off on the cusp of the acceptable limit of chance, following which, one heated and passionate argument later about who had won quickly led to them both forgetting themselves and ending up in a passionate embrace, kissing each other deeply. It was only then that Rose revealed to him she had always had a crush on him.

That was now almost two years ago. They had now been together for all that time. Rose stirred a little as he brushed his fingers against her ribs.

"Will, you know I'm ticklish." She muttered sleepily. "Leave me alone."

"Rose, we really should get up." He told her. "I know we don't have set hours, but I'm sure Dr. Hartford would appreciate it if we showed up at some point today."

"I will if you say it." She replied a little cheekily. Will groaned.

"Rose, how many times? It got us together, it doesn't matter..."

"Say it." She reiterated. Will relented with a smile and kissed her neck gently.

"The alarm would have caught me." He stated. "I'd still have been in the building when security got there."

A knock at the door interrupted their moment together. Will grunted dismissively before turning back to Rose.

"If this is the paper boy asking if I want a bloody subscription again, I'll damn well cripple him." He stated, getting out the bed and pulling on a robe. Rose followed suit, making her way to the kitchen.

"Should I start the breakfast?" She asked him.

"Only if you don't want me getting hungry." Will replied, opening the door. "You know what I'm like when I'm..."

His words were cut off mid-sentence as he felt something sharp pierce his abdomen. He looked at the wound, tracing the pale blue tentacle up to see Jellica standing before him. He knew she was bad news, but he could feel something coursing through him, affecting his thoughts and beginning to take over his mind.

"Will, would you like...?" Rose came in to see him collapse on the floor and Jellica step inside, shutting the door behind her.

"Your boyfriend will wake up with a new set of priorities." She stated. "You will soon too."

"Not likely!" Rose snarled. She knew that she probably couldn't take Jellica on her own, certainly not without her Overdrive Tracker, but she knew she would be able to get the others to help her if she asked. She turned invisible using her genetic gift, making her way quietly towards the door.

"Oh dear, I can't see you." Jellica replied sarcastically, suddenly swelling up and trapping Rose against the wall just feet from the door. Rose felt the tentacle wrap around her, before the stinger plunged into her flesh near her right shoulder blade. "Of course the jellyfish doesn't hunt by sight."

Rose edged slowly away from consciousness, all the while feeling Jellica's venom coursing through her, stealing her free will. She tried to crawl away, but it was already too late. She slumped to the floor completely unconscious.

"Now, where's that film set?" She mused, observing the two fallen Rangers. Will began to stir and rose to his feet. "I have a feeling the Blue Ranger should be next."

Back at JKP, Casey and Theo were working out front while RJ manned the kitchen. The girls had arranged to spend the day together shopping, a thought which terrified their respective partners, but that left them to man the restaurant themselves. Dominic hadn't seen fit to come downstairs, and they could guess why. It hadn't only been him to get a shock when Dai Shi's bombshell hit. They hadn't talked much to RJ either since then, but they didn't really know what to say. Dominic suddenly stormed through the restaurant.

"Dom, where are you going?" Casey asked him.

"Out!" He replied.

"When will you...?"

"Later." He snapped. Casey strode over to him purposefully, grabbing him roughly and turning him to face him.

"I know you've been hurt Dom, but your beef is with RJ." He stated bluntly, making sure no one could hear. "We're still your friends and we still need you..."

"I guess it's just as well I have this." Dominic interrupted, throwing Casey's hand off and gesturing to his morpher before turning on the spot, leaving without another word. Casey watched him go, a little worried by his behaviour. He was worried how stable he'd be in the field now that this had happened.

"Look on the bright side." Theo remarked. "Things can't get any worse."

Andrew Hartford was in his basement, researching ancient manuscripts in search of his latest archaeological obsession. He pulled up from his research as he saw Mack, Ronny, Will, Rose and Dax enter the room.

"Ronny, this is a lovely surprise. I always love seeing my future daughter-in-law." He yelled cheerfully. "Will, Rose, Dax. This is a wonderful surprise. Spencer, get some..."

"Spencer's busy." Mack interrupted. "Dad, we need the Overdrive trackers."

"Why?" He asked. "My monitoring system..."

"There are problems in Ocean Bluff." Mack interrupted again. "We need the morphers."

"Of course, let me get them." He began, opening his safe. It was then a thought hit him. His heart froze in terror and he gulped down a lump in his throat.

"If there are problems in Ocean Bluff, why didn't RJ contact me?" He asked. Mack grabbed him, throwing him clean across the room, through the globe in the centre. Mack laughed; satisfied as he watched Dr. Hartford's limp body sprawled across the floor. Jellica entered behind them.

"We have the morphers." He told her, throwing each of the team members their respective morphers before handing Ronny hers. They shared a passionate kiss as he observed his father's unconscious body. "What should we do with him?"

"It won't matter." Jellica replied. "Soon we'll have the Rangers in our grasp."

Back in Ocean Bluff, Lily had finally broken off from the others. They had taken her with them on their shopping spree to cheer her up, knowing what was happening between Dom and RJ, but she still wasn't feeling herself. She politely excused herself and left, making her way to the wharf. Staring out over the rippling waters, she tried to make sense of everything that had happened. She liked Dominic and hated seeing him hurting so much, but she was also understandably worried about her fiancé. RJ had taken the situation almost as badly as Dominic. Two of the people she cared most about in the world were now virtual enemies as a result of this secret, and it tore everyone involved apart to be involved in the whole, sorry affair.

It was then that she felt a gentle tap on her shoulder. Turning around, she found Mack there behind her. She remembered him from the time he and Dr. Hartford had helped RJ with his werewolf problem.

"Mack!" She yelled with excitement, hugging him deeply. "What are you doing here?"

"Ronny and I will be in town for a few days." He replied with a smile. "I'm meeting her for lunch. Do you want to come?"

"I'd love to meet this fiancée of yours." She replied. "Speaking of which, RJ and I have huge news, we're getting married too!"

"That's great news." He replied, leading her up an alley. "Can I see your ring?"

Lily looked to her left hand as she brought it up, completely missing the figure in Yellow approaching fast, blindsiding her. Ronny's Drive claw slammed into the side of her head, splitting her brow and knocking her unconscious. Mack and Ronny laughed as Ronny de-morphed, coming to his side. Mack reached down, pulling Lily's solar morpher out of her pocket and handing it to Jellica as she arrived.

"Her animal spirit will be a problem." He told her.

"Not for long." Jellica replied approaching the lifeless Yellow Ranger with a terracotta jar etched with evil, ancient runes. "Soon she will be as helpless as a kitten."

"One down, four to go." Ronny commented. "Who should be next?"

"Well, I think there's one we can get without too much of a fight." Mack breathed, bending down and ripping Lily's engagement ring off her finger. "You and the others start hunting down the others. I'll bring the Wolf Master."

Later in the day, Mack went into JKP, sitting in a booth by the window. Theo smiled as he saw him. He also remembered how he had helped them before. He went over with a menu, setting it down in front of the former Red Ranger.

"Mack, how are things?" He asked him. "What can I get you?"

"Well, I'm getting married." He replied. "Dad's my best man, and Spencer's an usher, I wanted to see if RJ would like to be another. Could you let him know I'm here?"

"I'll send him right out." Theo replied. "Congratulations by the way. I'd love to meet Ronny some time."

"Thanks." Mack stated, watching him go. "You'll meet my better half sooner than you think." It wasn't long before RJ came out with a big smile on his face.

"So you finally asked her, I'm happy for you." He began. "You know I..."

"I know, I heard." Mack interrupted him, gesturing to RJ's face. "What happened?"

"I had an argument with a friend's fist which I lost." He replied. "So do you have something in mind?"

"Yes, you turning yourself over to us." He replied coldly, laying a blood-stained Polaroid of Lily and her engagement ring in front of RJ. The Wolf Master's heart froze as he beheld what was in front of him. The Polaroid of Lily appeared to be genuine, and recent. The extent of her injuries was obvious in her cuts and bruises. He looked at Mack in horror, noting that his usual warm smile was gone. "Surrender yourself to us at the docks in an hour. Otherwise, she dies."

"Mack, why are you doing this?" RJ asked him softly, making sure no-one else could hear. "We've done nothing to you, why...?"

"My new mistress Jellica requested the pleasure of your company." He interrupted. "Now, what's your answer? I should have mentioned, but if I don't call in within..." He checked his watch. "20 seconds, they'll presume I failed and Lily will die."

RJ didn't even take another second to make his decision, tearing his Wolf Morpher off his wrist and handing it to Mack.

"I don't need to explain, say anything to the others and she comes home in SEVERAL boxes, right?" Mack asked him.

"I'm coming." RJ told him. "You're Andrew's son and we've been friends a long time but trust me, if anything happens to her, ALL of you will be going home in several boxes. I promise you."

"I doubt that." Mack told him, taking the wolf morpher and leaving casually. "One hour, be there."

On the docks, Dominic looked out jealously over the rippling waves. Tears burned his eyes and rolled down his cheeks periodically. Things were so much easier when he was travelling; all he had to consider was his feelings. If he found things a little hard to take, he'd just pack his bags and go. He didn't have to worry about friends betraying him or hurting him, he never stayed anywhere long enough to become more than passing acquaintances with those he socialised with.

He had come to accept the fact that his dad didn't give a damn about him, and his mom was far from interested in his development. It had been painful at first, but since his time at Pai Zhuq, it had become easier to accept the neglect of his family, people there seemed to actually care about him. He had a new family, new friends but now that was up the air. Everything was different now, and it pained him horribly to think badly of the people he had come to think of as his true family.

He looked at his red, swollen knuckles with a mixture of satisfaction and regret. RJ's betrayal had hurt him so deeply that his first and most overwhelming desire had been to hurt him back. It wasn't the same kind of hurt, but at least he could feel some of his pain.

On the other hand, RJ was his closest and dearest friend, almost like a brother at one point. If he wasn't so close to him, finding out he knew couldn't have hurt him so much. RJ had been there for him through so much at the Temple. The two were inseparable at one point, practically family. They'd had one fight in their entire lives and it was over a girl that, as it happened, didn't like either of them anyway. He could feel the anger burning in him as he thought about what RJ had done to him, but he still couldn't escape the good thoughts and memories. When Dom and Jarrod had their little "spats" as RJ would put it, if Master Mao didn't catch them, it was always him that separated them and calmed them both down, despite not knowing the truth. That's when the thought came to him. Maybe he was as much a victim as Dom was. Maybe what he said was true and he only had found out recently himself.

He heard a creak of loose floorboards on the pier behind him. He turned to see the Yellow, Pink, Blue and Black Overdrive Rangers before him. He snorted dismissively and turned back to the pier.

"Wrong town isn't it?" He asked. He flicked out an arm pointing west. "San Angeles is about 15 miles that way."

Will looked to the others who nodded to confirm his idea. Calling forth his Drive Slammer, he smashed it down onto the planks of the pier, catapulting Dom cleanly over them. Dom pulled himself to his feet, sneering at them.

"Come with us and it'll be less painful." The Blue Ranger offered. Dominic chuckled and shook his head.

"You have SO picked the wrong day to piss me off!" She roared, activating his Rhino Morpher. "Jungle Beast, Spirit UNLEASHED!"


	2. Jungle Overdrive

Lily came to in a grey, windowless room, feeling every inch of the beating she'd received at the hands of the Overdrive Rangers. She could remember coming to for the first time, finding herself in a warehouse confronted by the Overdrive team. She could remember the panic as she felt the emptiness left by the absence of her animal spirit as she faced off against them. It was then that they decided to have a little fun with her and set about her, beating her mercilessly as Rose took pictures with a Polaroid. Now she was chained up on the floor of some basement or dungeon somewhere, with no way of reaching her friends.

She struggled against the manacles securing her wrists and ankles, but achieved nothing more than bruising herself painfully. She couldn't believe she had been kidnapped by Mack and the others. He was a friend, why would he do this to her? She slid herself over to the corner and pulled her knees into her chest, resting against the wall and looked to her left hand for comfort, only to find that her engagement ring was gone. The door opened and Mack led RJ into the room by a length of chain attached to heavy manacles, securing his wrists together.

"RJ!" She shrieked, throwing himself at him and wrapping her arms around him. She could tell that he wasn't injured, she guessed he had probably surrendered himself to the Overdrive Rangers when he found out she was in danger. They kissed each other, feeling a comfort in one another's touch before Mack used his superhuman strength to launch RJ across the room.

"I hope you enjoyed that." He told them in a sneer. "This is the last time you'll ever see each other. We've arranged for separate cells for you both."

"Mack, why are you doing this to us?" Lily asked him.

"He's under some kind of spell." RJ informed her.

"Jellica made us see that being bad guys is so much more fun." Mack taunted her, squatting down near her. "Jellica, do the honours would you?"

The remaining overlord grabbed RJ and dragged him from the room, struggling as he went. Lily watched him go with tears in her eyes. She knew her friends would come to her aid eventually, but it still hurt to be separated from him. Mack gave her a little grin.

"I hope you like your room." He told her. "You won't be leaving."

"Mack, you have to fight this. You're a good person, I know you are." Lily implored him passionately. "I don't blame you for what you've done to us, but please, you need to break her spell."

Mack turned back to her, pulling her engagement ring out his pocket. Using his strength, he closed his hand, squeezing it and squashing it into a ruined, unrecognisable piece of scrap and threw it at her.

"Like I said, enjoy your new room." He chuckled, heading out the door and locking it behind him. Lily crawled over, picking up what was left of her engagement ring and wept. RJ had given that to her as a token of his love, a symbol of his unending devotion to her. Now it was gone, and so was the man she loved. She could only pray the others would come soon.

Mack made his way into the main room of the warehouse they were using as a hideout just as Jellica returned, having locked RJ away in another room away from Lily. She laughed evilly as she returned.

"Separating the lovebirds? You really are getting good at this whole evil thing." She commented. The others arrived a short time later, dragging Dominic's battered, unconscious body with them.

"I hope the others are easier to bring down than this guy." Will stated, throwing him onto the floor. "I don't even want to know what's happened, but he seemed really pissed about something."

"He wasn't the easiest to bring down." Dax interjected as he snapped manacles onto Dominic. "But four on one is the ONLY way to fight."

"Just stand aside while I capture his animal spirit." Jellica ordered, approaching him with the jar. "Then we can throw him in with the Wolf Master."

"Any plans for getting the others?" Ronny asked, de-morphing and coming to Mack's side. She wrapped her arms around his waist and rested her head against his shoulder. "We still have two more to capture."

"I have an idea." Will interrupted, pulling out a cell phone. "Anyone fancy take-away pizza?"

Back at the pizza parlour, Theo and Casey were beginning to get more than a little overwhelmed by the busy shift. RJ had gone out over an hour ago to get more coffee beans, and had not yet returned. Only Fran and Camille returning from their shopping trip gave them cause to feel happy.

"Camille, could you and Fran help out? We're getting slaughtered here!" Casey implored her. She came over to him, kissing his cheek and putting away her bags.

"We'll just get changed." She replied.

"Where's Lily?" Theo asked, noting the absence of the Yellow Ranger. "I thought she went with you."

"She said she wasn't in the mood and left after about an hour." Fran answered. "Where's RJ?"

"He went out to get coffee beans." Theo told her.

"But there's a whole box of them in the larder." Fran answered.

"RJ and Lily going missing at the same time?" Casey chuckled. "Who wants to bet they went on a lunch date?"

"That sounds about right." Theo remarked as the phone rang. "I bet they arranged this earlier. Hello, Jungle Karma, how may I help you?"

Theo wrote down the order and an address and tore it off the pad. "Casey, could you make up a Thrilla Gorilla? We just got a takeout order."

About half an hour later, Casey arrived with the pizza at the warehouse. The area looked completely deserted, so he checked the address again, finding he was in the right place. It was then that he was thrown from his feet as the moped exploded amid a storm of laser blasts. He pulled himself off the ground, finding himself staring at the Overdrive Rangers, all wielding the offending Drive Defenders. He had no idea why they attacked him, but he wasn't planning on waiting around for an explanation. As he was about to move, Mack levelled his Drive Lance, pressing the point to his throat. Ronny made her way round as he held up his hands in submission, taking his solar morpher from him and throwing it to Dax.

"Do the honours would you Will?" Mack ordered him. The Black Ranger called forth the Drive Slammer, swinging it into Casey's head, causing the world to face to black.

Rose picked up the fallen pizza, snorting dismissively and throwing it in the trash.

"Bananas on a pizza?" She sneered. "What idiot came up with that combination?"

"You'll get your chance to ask in person." Mack told her, gesturing to their jeep. "We still need to find those eyes for Jellica, and we still need to get the Blue Ranger. We may as well accomplish both ends at the same time."

Fran and Camille were busy cleaning up the kitchen after service when they heard a loud crash from the main service area. They arrived in time to watch Dax dragging Theo from the restaurant unconscious. Mack sneered at her.

"Stand aside four eyes." He said condescendingly. "Let us through to get what we're looking for and we'll be out of here in two minutes flat."

Fran balled her fists as he pushed past him, flashing red in her rage. She concentrated hard, finding her centre.

"Call to the beast inside. UNLEASH THE FOX!" She roared, launching her animal spirit at him. Mack was bowled over, being caught by surprise as it mauled him before returning to her. Fran prepared a guard, only to be taken down as Ronny attacked her from behind, knocking her out with her Drive Claws.

"Way to go, you almost got taken out by the bumbling sidekick." She said sarcastically. Camille came out of the kitchen to see what all the noise was about, being taken down by a blast from Mack's Drive defender. He came to Ronny's side and kissed her deeply.

"I love you, but mention that again and there'll be hell to pay." He replied. "Rose, tie them up. Everyone else, come with me. We need to find those eyes."

Dominic came to, finding himself in chains in an unfamiliar concrete room. He looked around, seeing RJ in the opposite corner.

"Dom, are you feeling OK?" He asked him. Dominic pulled himself into a seating position.

"Define alright." He moaned. "I just got handed my ass by another team of Power Rangers."

"Lily's here too." He informed him. "It looks like they're capturing us one by one."

"They've taken my rhino spirit." Dominic stated.

"They took my wolf too." RJ responded sadly. "Unless Theo and Casey can figure this out and rescue us we're on our own."

"Like I've never been on my own before." Dominic snorted sarcastically. RJ looked at him a little hurt by that remark.

"Dominic, you were never on your own." He replied. "Master Mao loved you. I've always cared about you..."

"You just spent your time laughing behind my back about the fact my dad wasn't really my dad!" He interrupted. "RJ, you know how little my parents cared about me. You know what it would have meant to me to know the truth, how could you keep this from me?"

"Dom I keep telling you, I only found out myself a few days ago." He replied, a little happy that Dominic was chained up, so at least he wasn't going to be punched again. "Master Mao told me to keep quiet. I couldn't betray his confidence..."

"What about MY confidence RJ?" He snapped. "I thought we were friends! I had a right to know!"

"Dom, you are my friend. This is exactly why it was so hard for me to know about Master Mao and Jarrod; I knew how much it would hurt you." He responded. "It's been eating me up since I found out."

"Well sorry if I find it hard to be sympathetic." Dominic snapped, turning from him. He turned his face away from RJ, but the quiver in his voice gave away the fact he was crying. "I've just found out my entire life's been a lie and that my best friend is one of the ones who lied to me."

"Dominic, I wish there was something I could say that would stop this hurting, I really do." RJ told him. "If I could do anything for you, I would. I can't begin to imagine what you're going through."

"I'm going through hell RJ!" He snarled. "I don't know who I am or what is true. Everything I ever knew is a lie."

"Not everything." RJ whispered. "I'm still your friend. You can punch me again if it makes you feel better, you can punch me as many times as you like, I don't care. All I care about is making sure you're alright."

"When we get out of this, I may just hold you to that." He replied. "So, do you think the Tiger has it in him to get us out of this?"

"If anyone can manage it, Casey can." RJ replied. Little did they know the Red Ranger was already a prisoner in another cell. "I'm sure he's already coming for us."

Back in the restaurant, The Overdrive Rangers were tearing the place apart in search of the remaining five crystal eyes. Jellica came into the restaurant as Mack was finishing up, throwing his hands up in defeat.

"They must be stashing them somewhere else." He informed her. "They're nowhere to be found."

"Well, we may as well get the Blue Ranger back to the hideout." She replied thoughtfully. "Meanwhile, we may as well take this place down. No point in leaving the Ranger's base standing if we have an opportunity like this."

"What about them?" He asked, gesturing to where Camille and Fran were still tied up and unconscious on the floor.

"They are of no value to my plan. Leave them." She responded. "No point burdening ourselves needlessly."

"You heard her, torch it." Mack commanded, snapping his fingers. Dax and Will started pouring gasoline all around the restaurant as they made their way to the door. Will fired up a rescue flare and tossed it into the restaurant, igniting the fuel and setting the restaurant ablaze.

"Anyone like their pizza's well done?" He remarked, causing the others to laugh as they mounted up in the jeep and headed back to the hideout, leaving the restaurant to burn within the inferno's deadly embrace, with Fran and Camille still inside.

Fran came to first, choking on thick, dark smoke and realised the danger they were in. She struggled against her restraints to no avail in her desperation, but couldn't free herself. The heat and the smoke soon overcame her, causing her to pass out. She resigned herself to her fate as she lost consciousness.

Shortly afterwards, an energy blast punched a hole in the wall, heralding the arrival of their saviour. The silver-clad Ranger rushed into the restaurant, looking around for the others, finally finding them. Tyzonne came over to them, checking their vitals. Finding Fran the weakest, he opted to save her first, throwing her over his shoulder and rushing out the restaurant. He set her down on the grass before going back in for Camille. Just as he leapt clear of the blaze, the restaurant collapsed in on itself, finally succumbing to the inferno. He de-morphed just as Camille and Fran began to come round.

"Are both of you alright?" He asked them.

"The restaurant!" Fran yelled, seeing the wreckage as he untied them.

"Never mind that, you're safe now." He told them, reminding her of the priorities in the situation. "I'm Tyzonne."

"Fran." She introduced herself. "This is Camille."

"Dr. Hartford contacted me and told me what happened with the Overdrive Rangers." He told her. "I'll explain more once we get somewhere safe, but I don't think I need to tell you your friends are in grave danger."

Back in the warehouse, Theo came to, finding himself in a cell with Casey. He realised immediately that his animal spirit had been taken from him. Checking his manacles, he quickly came to the conclusion that they were hopelessly trapped.

"They got you too?" He asked Casey. He nodded to confirm this.

"I can't believe Jellica turned the Overdrive Rangers against us." He grumbled. "Now we've got no morphers, no animal spirits and we're locked up in here."

"Well they can't have what they're looking for yet." Theo replied.

"What makes you say that?" Casey asked him. Theo looked him in the eye, responding honestly.

"The fact we're still alive."


	3. An Unlikely Ally

Dr. Hartford arrived at the edge of the city, finding Tyzonn waiting with Fran and Camille. From their dishevelled appearance he could tell that sending Tyzonn ahead had been a good idea. Tyzonn approached him with an apologetic look on his face.

"Sorry Dr. Hartford, I lost them." He sighed. "They burned down the restaurant with the girls inside; I had no choice but to save them."

"It's alright Tyzonn, we'll get another chance." He replied. "We'll help them."

He approached the girls, with a sad look on his face. "I'm sorry to hear about the restaurant. I know how much that place meant to RJ. I'll make it up to him." He told them. "In the meantime, we need somewhere I can set up my equipment."

"We'll go to my place." Fran replied.

"Won't your parents mind?" He asked. "We can't risk blowing the Ranger's cover..."

"It won't be a problem." Fran interjected. "I don't live with my parents."

Back in the warehouse, the Overdrive Rangers were sitting around, awaiting instructions. Mack and Ronny were lying on a couch in each other's arms, exchanging small talk while Dax and Rose were playing poker. Will sat with his feet up on a coffee table, absent-mindedly juggling the terracotta jar containing the Rangers' animal spirits as Jellica arrived back.

"Where did all this junk come from?" She demanded, gesturing to the furniture. Mack disentangled himself from Ronny's arms and sat up, addressing the overlord.

"We stole it." He replied. "We figured if we're going to be hanging around, we may as well make ourselves comfortable."

"Put that down you idiot!" She yelled at Will, causing him to catch the jar and look at her with a slightly annoyed look on his face. "That jar is the only thing keeping the Ranger's animal spirits trapped. If you smash it..."

"I won't drop it." He replied cockily, getting up from his chair and beginning throwing it from hand to hand. Jellica snatched it out the air with a tentacle, clutching it to her body.

"I'd rather not risk it." She sneered. "Now, do as I say and leave it alone! Go and check on the prisoners if you're bored."

"Well I wouldn't mind checking in on the Yellow Ranger." He stated cheekily, swaggering towards the door to the basement. "She's pretty cute. Shame we'll have to take her out when we get the eyes."

"Leave her alone, she knows nothing." Jellica told him. "Bring the Wolf Ranger to us. Maybe a little time to reflect on his predicament will have made him a bit more talkative."

"I hope not." Rose interjected, pulling out an electric stun gun and pressing the switch, causing sparks to arc between the points. "I'm kind of looking forward to interrogation."

In his cell, the few hours that had passed seemed like days because of the silence. Dom hadn't said anything to him since their talk earlier. He knew it was going to be hard for Dominic to forgive him, it still wasn't a certainty that he would. The door opened as Will and Mack entered.

"I think it's time we had a little chat." Will taunted him as Mack hauled RJ to his feet. "You've been keeping secrets from us, and we find that a little rude."

"I'll never tell you where the eyes are." RJ responded struggling in vain against Mack's genetically enhanced strength. "You only have a couple of days to the alignment. After that, they'll be useless for a few centuries. We just have to hold out until then."

"Oh we'll make you talk eventually." Will told him confidently. "We'll have fun making you talk."

"Leave him alone!" Dominic roared, lunging at them. Will took him down with a hard kick to the stomach.

"So much for the rhino." He sneered dismissively. "Don't worry; you'll get your turn."

"He doesn't know anything." RJ interrupted. "Only I know where the eyes are."

"Do you think we care about that?" Mack chuckled. "We'll talk to you first to get the location of the eyes, but everyone will get a turn. Torture sounds like so much fun."

"When we get out of this I am so going to kick your asses for this." Dominic wheezed, struggling for breath.

"Trust me, you won't get the chance." Will told him. "Jellica's plan is just a short time from fruition. After that, we won't need you anymore."

Fran and the others arrived at her house in the early evening. Fran unlocked the door and gestured them all inside.

"Fran, you live like this?" Camille gasped, looking around. Fran was always so organised and neat; she didn't expect what she saw. Sections of the ceiling were cracked and falling down. The paint was in dire need of refreshing, and junk was strewn all over the place.

Moving through to the living room, things were no better. There was an aging couch with a blanket over it; obviously this was where Fran slept at night. Crumpled clothes were piled around an erected ironing table, though only her Jungle Karma uniforms were clean, pressed and hanging up. On the cardboard box that doubled as a table, there was a huge stack of bills, many marked as overdue and a few as final demands.

"Fran, why didn't you tell us things were like this?" Camille asked her. "What happened?"

"I don't really like to advertise how pathetic my life is." She sighed, flopping down onto the couch. "Like I said, I don't live with my parents. Things have been pretty rough now for a while."

"What happened to your parents?" Tyzonn asked her.

"My dad was no great loss." She began. "He spent the first seven years of my life drinking bourbon and knocking me and mom from room to room. Then one night, he went out for some more liquor and never came back." A few tears ran down her face as she explained. "We heard about four years ago he died. Mom used the insurance cheque to pay what was left of the mortgage."

"Fran, you never said anything." Camille said sympathetically.

"Like I said, I didn't want to advertise the fact dad used to beat the crap out of us every night." She whimpered. "Mom just fell apart after dad died. Despite the beatings, she loved him a lot. She started drinking pretty heavily and lost her job. Her boyfriends would pay the bills. Most of them didn't stick around for very long. About two years ago I came home to find the house empty. All she left was a note saying she and her boyfriend had left and a twenty dollar bill for some food."

Camille hugged her friend warmly. Having been abused and neglected by Dai Shi, she could empathise with what she must have been through.

"Fran, you should have said something, the others would have helped you." She stated flatly. "You can't go on living like this."

"When RJ opened JKP, I started hanging around there to get out of the house." Fran continued. "There I could just sit and read and forget about what was waiting for me back home. It's one of the main reasons I love reading so much you know? For a few hours I can go somewhere else, be someone else and just forget how crappy my life is."

"We'll get you out of here soon, I promise." Dr. Hartford told her, finishing setting up a makeshift lab in the corner. "Jellica's controlling the Overdrive Rangers with some kind of toxin from her sting. We need to get a blood sample so I can analyse the toxin and create an antidote."

"The best way is to capture one of them and bring them here." Tyzonn stated, making his way to the centre of the room. "I'll go."

"Tyzonn, it's five on one." Fran reminded him. "Our friends are in danger, we'll go with you."

"But I have Ranger powers." He replied. "Besides, we have no idea how quickly Jellica can make this toxin. I'm the only one who can't be affected by it."

"How?" Camille asked him.

"Because I'm Mercurian." He stated with authority. "My DNA's made of liquid metal. I don't have a bloodstream for the poison to affect."

"I guess that makes sense." Camille responded. "But we're still going with you; you can't take on all five by yourself."

"We only need to grab one of them." Dr. Hartford reminded them. "We don't need to beat them, just grab one of them and get out of there."

"It's still not going to be easy." Fran responded. "How will we find them?"

"They know I'm not with them." Tyzonn replied. "Once they know I'm in town, they'll find me."

This did nothing to ease their nerves as they made their way from the crumbling hovel that Fran called home. They were about to try and take on a Ranger team with only one Ranger to support them, and using him as bait. It wasn't the greatest of plans, but so far it was all they had.

Back in the warehouse, Rose pressed the stun gun into RJ's torso, shocking him again, causing him to scream out in pain as the current ran through him. His hands were secured above his head by a length of chain secured to the ceiling, holding him upright despite his quickly failing strength.

"So, are you ready to talk yet?" Mack asked him as she released the switch. The multiple burns on his torso stood as a testament to how long the torture had been going on. His resolution never slipped though. He glared at Mack hatefully, shaking his head in defiance.

"You're not getting those eyes." He growled. Mack gestured to Will to let the Wolf Master down. He thought about it for a while, trying to think of how he could get him to talk. Will was about to drag him away when Rose stopped him.

"Chain him to the wall over there." She told him. "Mack, bring the Yellow Ranger up here next."

"I like the way you think." He chuckled as Will secured RJ to a bracket in the wall.

"I guess you get to see your better half after all." He taunted RJ, ruffling his hair. "Oh this will be fun."

"If you hurt her..."

"You know, there is a way you can stop us." Mack told him. "This can all end any time you want it to."

RJ said nothing, turning his face from them. He hated the thought that they were about to start hurting Lily, but he knew that if they got the eyes they were dead anyway. Will dragged Lily into the room, attaching her manacles to the chain hanging from the roof.

"You know, this will be really enlightening." Mack commented. "You've agreed to marry this man, now you get to see what he thinks is more important, you or the eyes."

"It'll save you a fortune in couples counselling." Ronny remarked. "You know, one in three marriages ends in divorce anyway."

"Guys, look who it is." Dax announced, gesturing to a television in the corner. The Overdrive Rangers gathered around, seeing Tyzonn on the screen, standing in the city plaza. The local news network had already found out about the Overdrive Ranger's attacks on the city, and so any new information was being broadcast in regular news flashes. "It's our old mascot."

"So ET's come back eh?" Mack remarked sarcastically. "Will, you Ronny and Dax go and make him wish he stayed home. Rose and I will carry on with the interrogation here."

The Black, Yellow and Blue Rangers powered up and left, making their way to the plaza to take care of their former ally. Mack turned back to RJ as Rose approached his fiancée menacingly with the stun gun. He was pointedly aware of how much that thing hurt, and he was about to be forced to watch them do the same to Lily.

"RJ, don't worry about me!" She yelled, watching Rose come over to her, sparking the stun gun in an intimidating gesture. The look in her eyes betrayed her fear, but her courage and sense of duty to the Order of the Claw gave her the strength to push that fear aside. "They can't get the eyes. You can't tell them. Don't worry about me."

RJ couldn't answer. Rose hadn't even started with the torture yet, but already it was taking all his strength not to just tell them what they wanted to know. He closed his eyes as the first of Lily's screams rang around the warehouse. Tears rolled down his face as he tried to block out the screams of the woman he loved. Mack saw the reaction and smiled. It wouldn't be long before RJ cracked.

Will, Dax and Ronny arrived in the plaza, approaching their former friend slowly.

"Tyzonn, it's been a while." Will commented. "I would have thought you'd be hiding back on Mercuria with Vella."

"Dr. Hartford told me you guys were in trouble." He replied, levelling his Drive Detector towards them. "I had to come."

"You know, we really chose the wrong side." Dax stated as the three Rangers began shifting around, surrounding him. "Being one of the bad guys is so much more fun."

"It's Jellica's venom that's making you think that." He replied. "We can help you. I don't want to hurt you, but if that's what I have to do to bring you to your senses, then that's what I'll do."

The three Rangers rushed their one time friend, only to be caught off guard as a fox and chameleon spirit charged into the battle, sending Ronny and Dax flying while Tyzonn began his frantic struggle with Will.

"So you didn't get cooked." Ronny sneered, rounding on Fran. "Well I guess you haven't learned anything."

"Actually, I've learned a lot." She snarled, throwing herself aggressively at the Yellow Ranger, sweeping her legs out from under her.

"Someone with glasses as thick as yours should be smarter." Ronny shot back, smashing her to the ground with her Drive Defender, stunning her. "You try to take on a powered up Ranger? What are you thinking?"

She looked across to where Camille was faring no better against Dax. The three were soon being overpowered. The Rangers advanced on them, levelling their weapons at the weakened heroes.

"Any last words?" Will asked them.

"Only one." A voice snarled, heralding the arrival of a gold and black armoured warrior. "Zukado!"

The three Rangers were thrown to the ground and de-morphed as the dark energies of Dai Shi's zukado power struck them.

"Dai Shi?" Camille shrieked. "Why are you helping us?"

"Trust me; Jellica having the Rangers under her control is as much bad news for me as it is for you." He responded.

"Grab one of them." Tyzonn called out. Fran rushed forward, connecting with the side of Ronny's head with a hard elbow, knocking her unconscious.

"Sorry about that." She stated. Dai Shi was powering up for another attack, causing the remaining two Rangers to turn tail and flee.

"Let them go." Tyzonn told them, pulling out a length of rope and tying Ronny's hands tightly behind her back before throwing her over his shoulder. "We've got what we need."

"Thank you Dai Shi." Camille said gratefully, approaching her former lover as he powered down. "We're all grateful."

"I will help you end the threat of Jellica's Rangers." He told them. "However, once the Rangers are defeated, our alliance will be over."

"We understand." Tyzonn responded.

"Guys, aren't we forgetting something?" Fran interjected. "This is Dai Shi. The guy's been trying to kill us all year. He'll probably destroy us all the second we find the others."

"My only concern at the moment is destroying Jellica." He responded. "Your destruction can wait until another day. In return for helping me, I swear I will not destroy you today. I always pay my debts."

"He does." Camille interjected. "I've known him long enough to know he always honours his bargains."

"We don't really have much of a choice." Tyzonn reminded her. "We don't have the power to take them down by ourselves. We need him."

"Fine." Fran snapped, finally relenting. "Let's get Ronny to Dr. Hartford before she wakes up."

Back at the warehouse, Lily's limp body hung lifelessly as Rose snarled in frustration. Mack made his way over to RJ, kicking him to bring his attention back to her plight.

"You know, I never would have thought you could be this callous." He stated.

"I guess he can't care about you that much." Rose taunted Lily, slapping her across the face. "Mack, we're getting nowhere like this."

"You're right." He responded, powering up into Ranger mode. He pulled out his Drive Defender, pressing it to her temple. "Since she doesn't know anything, we don't have any need of her. You're the only one who knows, so..."

"Alright!" RJ shrieked, stopping Mack in his tracks. "Alright, I'll tell you where they are!"

"RJ, no." Lily groaned as Rose let her down, causing her to collapse to the floor in a crumpled heap. "I'm not worth it. You can't..."

"Lily, you're everything to me." He replied. "We can worry about the phantoms when the time comes. I need you."

"Well that was touching." Mack commented. "I need a barf bag, but it was touching. Now, if you don't mind. I'm all ears."

Back at Fran's house, Ronny struggled against her restraints, her face a twisted snarl of hatred.

"When I get out of this, you're dead four eyes!" She screeched.

"Ronny, I'm sorry, we'll release you once I synthesise and antidote." Dr. Hartford told her, approaching with a needle. Tyzonn held her still as he plunged it into her arm, drawing a sample of blood from his future daughter-in-law.

"That hurt damn it!" She screamed. "When the others find me, you are so going to pay!"

Fran pulled Tyzonn and Camille aside, making sure she was out of earshot of Dai Shi.

"Guys, she's right, they're probably going to be looking for us." She replied. "I hope Dr. Hartford completes that antidote soon."

"I think the bigger issue is whether or not RJ tells them where the eyes are." Camille replied. "He never told any of us where he hid them for this reason, but he's been in their clutches now for hours."

"He won't have told them." Fran replied. "He knows it's too important."

"Everyone has a breaking point." Tyzonn remarked. "Even someone as strong as RJ can't hold out forever."

Back in the warehouse, the door to Lily's cell was thrown open and she was bundled inside.

"It doesn't matter to you which cell I'm in." RJ implored Mack. "I gave you what you want; you'll destroy us soon anyway. Please let me spend my remaining time with her."

"I guess we can do that." Mack replied, shoving him inside. "Don't say I'm not good to you."

Mack laughed as the door shut behind him. RJ came over to Lily and held her in his arms. Tears were already beginning to form in both their eyes.

"RJ, please tell me you lied." She whimpered. "Please tell me you didn't give them the real location."

"Lily, I couldn't watch you die." He replied, wiping away his tears and kissing her in a comforting embrace. "I had no choice. I had to tell them."

As he held her closely, he felt the pain burning in his chest. He had been forced to tell them where the remaining eyes were, and now one of the people he cared most about in the world was in grave danger. He could only pray that they would escape in time to stop them before it was too late.


	4. The Exchange

Mack and Rose were beginning work on rigging C4 charges around the warehouse as Will and Dax arrived back in the room.

"We got what we wanted out of the chef." Rose greeted them with a sly grin. "And it was fun to get the information, even if I do say so myself. So, did you deal with the mascot?"

Mack turned around from where he was working, noting their roughed up appearance, and the slightly sheepish looks on their faces. The grin slipped from his face as he looked around, seeing that his fiancée was not with them.

"What the hell happened?" He snapped, closing in on Dax, grabbing him roughly by the jacket and lifting him off the floor. "Where's Ronny?"

"We were ambushed." Will informed him. "They got her."

"You got your asses handed to you by our team mascot and the god damned cheer squad?" He whispered menacingly, getting into Will's face. Will didn't back down. Unlike Dax, Will wasn't scared of Mack. He was a confident warrior in his own right, a fact that occasionally made him difficult to work with back in the day. He got nose-to-nose with Mack, unflinching.

"They weren't alone." He explained. "This town's big badass got the drop on us."

"So you just cut and run, leaving Ronny to them?" Mack snarled in his face. "I knew I shouldn't have counted on you. You've been a pain in my ass since my dad hired you!"

"Like you were ever any better," Will interrupted him aggressively, "we'd probably have found the crown in half the time if we hadn't had to carry you."

"In case you failed to notice, I was the one who destroyed Flurious, and he was infused with the power of the crown by then."

"And in case you forgot, you died in the process!" Will snapped back. "Maybe it would have been better for us if..."

"That's enough!" Jellica roared, separating them with her tentacles. "Dai Shi has allied himself with the Rangers?"

"That's what I said." Will replied. "He got the drop on us."

"You're lucky he didn't destroy you." She interjected. "This greatly complicates the plan."

"It complicates nothing!" Mack snarled, breaking free of her tentacles. "We know where the eyes are, and we know where Ronny is. I'm going after them!"

"That is a rash and foolish plan." Jellica stated. "Dai Shi defeated three of your friends. With his zukado power, he would crush you in seconds..."

"And in case you forgot, you're just human like the rest of us now." Rose reminded him. "You can't use the battliser."

"You will need the others to defeat him." Jellica stated with authority. Mack stopped in his tracks and thought about this. As much as he wanted to rush off to find the woman he loved and tear apart everyone in his way with his bare hands, he knew she was right. He made his way over to a work bench, resting his hands on it as he thought about Ronny. He didn't know what they were doing to her. With a howl of frustration, he swept it off with his hands, scattering equipment and tools onto the floor. Jellica only just caught the terracotta jar imprisoning the animal spirits. With another anguished cry, he brought his fists down, shattering the table and sending splinters flying.

"You fool; you almost released the animal spirits!" The overlord screamed. "I should..."

"Like you said, it will take all of us to take them down." Mack responded, a look of anger crossing his face. "We know where the eyes are, and we know where Ronny is. Maybe we can achieve both objectives at once."

"You sound like you have a plan." Rose commented. "You know how to track them?"

"Rose, why track them when we can get them to come to us?" He replied. "Open the communications link on your overdrive trackers."

"But then Tyzonn will be able to hear us." Will reminded him. "That's why we switched them off in the first place."

"Trust me Will." Mack responded, pulling himself back to his feet. "Leave the thinking to me."

Back in Fran's house, she sat on the couch, staring at the floor. They had put Dai Shi in charge of securing the perimeter, not trusting him with the welfare of the prisoner, or Dr. Hartford's work. Camille came over to her young friend, sitting down beside her. She placed an arm around her.

"I don't know how you're staying so calm." Camille commented. "Any time I'm by myself, or I don't have something to do I start thinking about Casey."

"It's natural." Fran answered. "I'm worried about the others, but I'm scared about losing Theo too."

"So how do you stay calm?" Camille asked again. "Any time I think about what's happening to Casey, my heart stops. I can't breathe, I can't..."

"It's my love for Theo that gives me that strength." Fran told her. "I want to curl up in a ball and cry too. But I know that Theo needs me. My love for him gives me the strength to push aside the tears and the pain. I know that I'm no good to him like that."

Camille smiled a little at hearing those words. "I think I know where you're coming from." She replied. "When it comes time to fight, I don't even think about what's going on. I just kind of focus on the job at hand."

"That's what we have to do." Fran responded. Dr. Hartford came into the room a short time later. "How's Ronny?" She asked.

"She's fine." He replied. "She's got one hell of an impressive black eye coming up, but she should be fine."

"So what do we do now?" Camille asked him. "We don't know where they are."

"I know my son better than anyone." Dr. Hartford began. "I've asked Tyzonn to open the communication link on his morpher. Something tells me once Mack finds out we have Ronny, he'll call us."

"Well that gives me a plan." Fran stated. "I'll go with Tyzonn and Dai Shi to meet him."

"It's too dangerous." Dr. Hartford told her. "Dai Shi and Tyzonn sure, but you shouldn't try to take them head on. You don't..."

"They'll only meet with us if I go." Fran interrupted him. "I'm the one they want."

"But they want Ronny back." Camille responded. "Why would they want you?"

Fran looked around to ensure Dai Shi was out of earshot before explaining. "RJ only told you half the truth when he said that he hid the eyes." She shifted a little on the couch. "He knew there was a chance that the restaurant would be targeted, it would be the first place they'd look for them."

"So where did he hide them?" Camille asked. "He never told us..."

"He knew that he and the Rangers would be a target too." Fran continued. "So he gave them to me. I hid them. He knew Dai Shi would be watching the Rangers, but he was unlikely to care what the 'bumbling sidekick' was up to."

"So you know where the eyes are." Camille concluded.

"We can't give them to Jellica." Dr. Hartford interjected. "If she gets them..."

"Dr. Hartford, Mack's making contact." Tyzonn announced, entering the room. "He wants to talk to Fran."

Fran took the morpher, holding it close. "Mack?"

"You know what we want." He began. "Bring Ronny and the eyes to the old Winston Electronics warehouse in an hour."

"I want your word that you'll release the others." Fran demanded.

"You're in no position to demand anything." He sneered dismissively. "What are you going to do, kill her? You don't have it in you."

"Maybe not, but I have it in me to hurt her." She replied. "I know you'll find us eventually, and I know you'll probably kill us when you do, but it'll take time. Just think of all I could do to her in that time."

Mack froze up for a second. She was right, even with the means at their disposal; it would take hours, maybe even days to search the whole city.

"You should see the state I left her face in." Fran taunted him. "I've never given anyone a black eye before. I never knew someone's face would swell up like..."

"Touch her again and I'll make you suffer!" He roared over the communicator. Fran smirked a little realising she was getting to him as she had intended. Dr. Hartford turned from her with an uncomfortable look on his face. He knew what she was doing; she was turning herself into bait. "Let me speak to her or I swear..."

"I'll let you have a word." She replied casually, making her way from the living room to where Ronny was being held. "We'll bring what you want in an hour. Just be ready to release the others."

"It won't matter, once the phantoms are released, you're all dead anyway!" He snarled. He stopped in his tracks as he heard her voice.

"Mack." She muttered.

"Ronny, are you alright?" He asked. "What have they done to you?"

"I'm alright, my face hurts a little." She reassured him. "I'll be fine once I get my hands on four eyes here."

"We'll get her and make her pay honey, I promise." He responded, smiling a little at hearing her voice. "We'll make her pay together."

"One hour Mack." She concluded, killing the communication and switching off the communicator to prevent a return message.

"To think, you used to be part of the problem." Fran stated. "Now you get to be part of the solution."

Back in the warehouse, Mack ran his hands through his hair in frustration as the communicator went dead. He started pacing the room.

"Rose, finish setting up those C4 charges." He commanded. "As soon as we get those eyes, we're bringing the whole place down on the Rangers."

"So you have no intention of releasing the Rangers." Jellica chuckled, turning to Will. "I told you your fears were unfounded. His fiancée isn't distracting him at all."

"No, it's making me focus more than ever." Mack responded coldly. "Will, round up the dogs. We're going fox hunting."

"But the eyes..."

"She's bringing the eyes here, you'll get them." He snapped, cutting Jellica off. "No one touches Ronny and gets away with it."

An hour later, Jellica and the remaining four Rangers assembled outside the warehouse. They watched as Dai Shi, Tyzonn and Fran dismounted from the jeep, dragging Ronny from the back as they went. Dai Shi grabbed the collar of her uniform roughly and shoved her ahead of them, while Fran carried a brief case. Mack stepped forward to confront them.

"Where are Camille and my dad?" He asked. "I want everyone where I can see them."

Sighing sadly, Dr. Hartford walked slowly from the vantage point he'd taken up with his rifle.

"Lose the gun dad." Mack ordered. Dr. Hartford dropped the rifle and stepped away from it. Camille de-cloaked and appeared next to the others.

"Right, we're all here. Where are our friends?" Fran demanded.

"They're inside." He told her, throwing her a bunch of keys. "You'll find them in the basement."

Fran was about to make her way forward, but Will attracted her attention with a whistle, producing the detonator.

"There's more than enough C4 in that building to send it straight to hell." He informed her.

"Now, cut Ronny loose and give her the case." Mack instructed her. "Otherwise we celebrate the fourth of July a little early."

Fran untied Ronny's hands and handed her the case. Ronny walked over to Mack, throwing her arms around him and kissing him deeply. He pulled away a little, observing her injuries. He stroked the side of her face gently with his fingertips.

"It looks worse than it is." She answered his unasked question. "I'll be fine once we get our hands on her."

"Oh that won't take long." He replied, handing the case to Jellica. "I can't believe you fell for that."

Will pressed the switch on the detonator, starting a timer. "You now have ten minutes to release them before this place goes sky high." Mack stepped forward, smirking as he pulled out his morpher.

"Ready guys?" He asked. "Overdrive...Arghhh!"

Mack screamed, grabbing his neck. Turning around, he saw Ronny holding a syringe.

"Mack, I'm sorry, but you need the antidote." She explained.

"Overdrive Accelerate!" The others called out, morphing into Ranger form. Tyzonn and Dai Shi rushed to the attack as Ronny tended Mack. Unfortunately the serum took a little while to work, and so it was necessary to mix it with a sedative. Jellica disappeared from view, teleporting away from the scene. She had the case, so the outcome of the battle really didn't concern her.

"Camille, help me release the others!" Fran screamed, rushing inside. They frantically searched for the entrance to the basement. Fran stopped in her tracks as she saw the jar sitting on the table. Her fox spirit could hear the call of Theo's Jaguar. The connection between them was so strong that she felt its presence.

"Camille, I've got an idea." She called out, smashing the vase on the floor. Before them, the newly released animal spirits rushed forth, seeking their masters. "Follow the spirits!"

Dominic was sitting alone in his cell when he felt the rhino coming. It passed through into the cell, reuniting with him, filling him once more with its power. Complete once more, Dominic summoned it forth.

"I call to the beast inside. Release the rhino!" He called out, sending it forth and smashing the door from its hinges. He made his way into the hall as quickly as his restraints would allow.

"Dominic!" Fran called out as she came to his side and scrambled through the keys to find the one that would open his manacles. "We have to hurry; this place is going up any minute now."

"Concentrate on the manacles." He told her. "Leave the cell doors to the rhino."

Releasing the others as quickly as they could, Camille joined them in the basement shortly afterwards, handing out their morphers.

"Guys, we need to get out quick, this place goes up in one minute." Camille told them. "Morphing will give you a little energy boost to help you get out of here."

Dai Shi smashed Will out of his morphed form, allowing Dr. Hartford to inject the last of the affected Rangers. The others came scrambling out of the warehouse at this time and started gathering up their unconscious bodies.

"Guys, let's book!" RJ called out, sprinting as quickly as they could, just as the warehouse exploded. Mack was the first to recover as they watched the wreckage fall in on itself.

"Power down." The Jungle Fury Rangers called out, taking their civilian forms once more. Dr. Hartford immediately hugged his son warmly. Mack broke down and wept into his shoulder.

"I'm sorry!" He sobbed. "I'm so sorry!"

"You couldn't help what you did." Dr. Hartford responded, overjoyed to have his son back. "We know you weren't responsible for any of it."

He pulled away a little, wiping tears from his eyes as he looked to RJ and Lily. He knew he had hurt them worst of all. Memories of everything he'd done rushed back to him in vivid detail. "Can you ever forgive me?"

RJ held Lily tightly, extending a hand towards the young man. He knew what it was like because of his experiences as a werewolf. Mack took his hand acknowledging the gesture.

"Guys, we need to get out of here." Fran informed them, alerting them to the sirens as the emergency services made their way to the explosion.

"Casey!" Dai Shi announced. The Red Ranger approached him a little suspiciously at first. He tried to understand his motives, but found it impossible. "I promised I wouldn't fight you this day. I just wanted to let you know that I intend to keep that promise."

"Thanks for your help." He replied. Dai Shi gestured for him to come closer. He wanted to speak quietly with his nemesis.

"I saw the way Camille fought these last couple of days. I've never seen her feel such passion." He told him. "I know only one thing could have given her that passion. I can now see that being with you is the best thing for her. Promise me you'll take care of her."

"You know I will." Casey replied. "I love her."

Dai Shi extended a hand, which Casey accepted. "Although tomorrow we will be enemies, today it was an honour to fight by her side again." He stated with a smile. "Take care of her. Farewell Red Ranger."

With that, he vanished, teleporting back to the fortress. For now, he had a certain Jellyfish to fry.

Back in the fortress, Jellica returned to the secret chamber where she planned to resurrect the phantoms, feeling a sense of accomplishment. She knew Dai Shi would be too smart to stick around and be destroyed by the explosives, and she hadn't waited for the result of the battle with the Rangers. With luck, they had all destroyed each other, but in the meantime, she could console herself with reviving the eight phantoms.

Throwing open the case, she recoiled in horror. It was then that she realised Fran had double-crossed her. The case was empty, and the alignment was the following night. There was no way she had the time to find the other eyes and prepare the three she already had by herself.

"I guess three will have to do." She thought aloud. "By this time tomorrow, Dai Shi will be destroyed."

Back at Fran's house, she and Theo took a last look around before she left that hovel for good. Having explained her situation to the others, they insisted that she wasn't to return there. Dr. Hartford was paying to have the restaurant rebuilt, and they had already told her that she was welcome to move in with them.

Fran pulled back the carpet, before forcing up a few floorboards with a crowbar. She pulled out a canvas sack, containing the remaining eyes. She handed them to Theo, putting an arm around his waist.

"It feels strange to know I'm never going to come back here." She sighed.

"You didn't have to live this way." He assured her. "It'll be great once we get back home. I promise."

Fran pulled him in close, kissing him warmly before resting her head on his shoulder. She knew now where she belonged. Her real family had been there all along, and now she realised it. She couldn't wait to move in with them. More than anything else in the world, she wanted to leave her old life behind. The Rangers were her life now.

They arrived back in the hotel Dr. Hartford had booked for them while the restaurant was being rebuilt. As they exchanged small talk, Mack arrived in the room, making his way into the centre of the room.

"Look, I know you guys have forgiven us, but I still feel really bad about some of the stuff we did." He began.

"Mack, it's alright. Your dad's having the restaurant rebuilt just the way it was." RJ told him.

"It should be ready to move into by the end of the week." Dr. Hartford interjected.

"I still would like to make amends for some of the stuff I've done." He replied, pulling a jewellery box out of his pocket and handing it to RJ. Opening it, he saw Lily's engagement ring. "I had it repaired. I'm really sorry I did that."

"Thanks Mack." RJ responded, taking the ring out of the box. "This really means a lot."

"I know how I feel about Ronny; it would kill me if anything happened to her." He told them. "I know how much the ring must mean to you."

Lily gave RJ her left hand, allowing him to slide the ring back onto her finger. It felt so wrong when it wasn't there, but now it had been returned to her. Looking to her hand as she settled into RJ's arms, it felt good to have everything back to normal. Mack looked over to Dominic, making his way over to the Rhino Ranger.

"Dominic, could I talk with you in private for a minute?" He asked him. The two Rangers made their way into another room for some privacy. Mack began pacing as he tried to think how to begin. He knew this would be a hard conversation, but he needed to complete his atonement. "Dominic, I know a little about what happened to you." He began.

Dominic turned from him. Was this guy for real? He was going to start talking about this now? "Mack, you have no idea what I'm going through." Dominic stated. "Please don't try and tell me you do."

"I have a better idea than you think." He replied. "It's not easy finding out you're not who you thought you were."

"You were adopted too?" He asked. "At least your dad didn't..."

"I wasn't exactly adopted." He interrupted. "Believe it or not I'll be four years old in August."

"Excuse me?" Dominic asked, more than a little confused.

"My dad was so wrapped up in his work that he never met a woman and had kids." He commented. "He built an android and programmed it as his son."

"You're an android?" Dominic asked him.

"Not exactly, during the last Ranger battle I was destroyed." He told him. "The Sentinel Knight used his power to bring me to life. I've been human since then."

"I guess that must have been a shock." Dominic replied.

"It was quite a surprise when I woke up and my body was on the other side of the room." He admitted. "Look, I know how much it hurts to know that people you care about have lied to you about something this important."

"I just don't know how I can forgive them?" He replied. "They've betrayed me."

"I felt like that too." Mack told him. "Dad had lied to me about everything. I didn't know what, if anything about my life was true. Even Spencer, one of my oldest friends had kept it from me."

"What happened?" He asked. "You and your dad seem really close now."

"One time Flurious was threatening my life and demanded we hand over the Corona Aurora." He explained. "Dad and my friends handed it over without question."

"But that could have destroyed everything!" Dominic remarked.

"But it showed me one thing that I'd forgotten. It proved how much they loved me." He explained. "Because I was an android and because I wasn't his son, I started to become a little reckless. I believed that it didn't matter if anything happened to me because I could be replaced."

"But you couldn't." Dominic interjected. "Not to him, because he loved you."

"I realised that the reason they gave Flurious the crown was the same reason they lied to me." He explained. "They loved me, and they didn't want to hurt me. They knew I'd be disappointed when I found out."

"So how did you get over it?" Dominic asked him. "It still hurts."

"It will for a long time." Mack informed him. "Just remember the people who've always been there for you."

"Thanks Mack." Dominic replied, smiling a little. "I guess I should really give them a chance."

"Just try not to let your pain cloud you to those who want to help you." He told him. "RJ cares about you, and I'm sure Master Mao did too."

"I guess that leaves one major problem." He sighed. "There's one more member of the family, and he needs his big brother's help."


	5. Resurrection of the Phantoms

Dominic and Mack returned to the room, finding the others reminiscing about past deeds and adventures. Mack chuckled a little as he realised that Ronny and Lily were comparing notes on their respective fiancées. Dominic sat down beside RJ and handed him a glass for some wine, nodding to him in a small gesture. He wanted to talk to RJ and clear up a few things, but tonight with the others there was not the time. Everyone had returned safely to their friends and loved ones, and while things were safe and quiet for now, they all knew that things would be getting harder in the near future, and the Overdrive Rangers had their own commitments to make, not least of which was clearing things up with the authorities. Tonight wasn't the night for a serious talk with RJ; the Wolf Master was his oldest friend and would be there tomorrow. Tonight was a night to celebrate.

RJ smiled as he realised things were starting to thaw with Dominic. Sitting so close to him and asking for a drink wasn't much of a gesture, but it was an important one. It was the first time Dom had any kind of interaction that didn't end in a screaming match or the rather regrettable punching incident in days. He had a feeling that thing were at least starting to get better for Dom.

"Well guys, we all better get going." Dr. Hartford announced, getting off the couch. "We have a long night ahead of us when we get back to San Angeles."

"I am so not looking forward to that press conference." Mack stated with a long groan as he got to his feet. "I guess we do kind of have a lot of explaining to do. People believed in us for so long. I guess we have to go and get that faith back."

"I've already had a couple of sponsors phone me to ask for an explanation." Ronny grumbled. "I suppose it's only to be expected."

"I'm sure everything will work out for the best." Dr. Hartford assured them. "I've still got Ronny's blood work, I'm sure the labs will confirm the toxins in your systems."

"Well hopefully that should keep us out of prison." Will replied. "Of course it won't make walking down the street any easier."

"Well, if anyone can make it through this, you can." Dr. Hartford assured them. "I can't count the number of times you amazed me during the missions for the Corona Aurora."

"Anyway, we'll get back in touch once all this blows over." Rose told the Jungle Fury Rangers. "We'd like to catch up once things calm down slightly."

"Well I'm looking forward to it." Ronny interjected. "I'd quite like for us to all get together again before the wedding."

"Hopefully the swelling will have gone down by then." Lily remarked gesturing to her face. "We wouldn't want you to look like that in your photos."

"We've got about six months at least." Ronny replied, taking a little amusement in Fran's reaction as she turned from her, her face turning a little red. "I should be fine by then. I've got to say, it was a pretty impressive shot you gave me."

"Yeah, well she had a good teacher." Theo chipped in, pulling her close. "We're all really proud of her."

"She did a great job of helping us." Will complimented the increasingly embarrassed Fran. "She's great."

"Thanks guys, I'm just glad I could help." Fran said weakly, her voice hardly crossing the room. "I'm just sorry I messed Ronny up so bad. I'm sure Theo could have..."

"Hey, don't sweat it. I don't." Ronny laughed. "I know you've not been training long. It's impressive you took me down. You did what you had to; your lives were in danger. I would have done the same."

"She also got me a good one with her animal spirit." Mack interjected. "She has every right to feel proud."

"Really?" RJ asked, turning to look at Fran. "I've never taught you to do that. I didn't think you were ready yet."

"At the time, it just came to me." She admitted. "I was so angry about what they were doing and so worried about you all, next thing I know, my fox spirit is attacking Mack."

"Well I for one am really impressed, I don't think any of us could be prouder of you Fran." RJ remarked, making his way to Fran's side and placing a hand on her shoulder. "That is why I think your days of training with Theo are over. I think you're now ready to train with the rest of us."

"I'm all for it." Lily announced cheerfully. "What about the rest of you guys?"

"Second!" They chorused together.

"Well I think that settles it." RJ announced. "Fran, from now on, you train with us."

Fran felt good about the level of acceptance she had earned from the others. As Theo hugged her tightly, Dominic raised his glass to her in a gesture of camaraderie. It wasn't long ago that he was struggling to be accepted by the others, and now he was giving her his endorsement. Fran pulled into Theo and smiled. She was so glad they were all safe, and now she truly was a part of the family. It felt good to belong somewhere again.

"Anyway, we really need to be going." Dr. Hartford reminded them. "We have a meeting with my lawyer early tomorrow morning."

"Good luck guys." Mack stated as they got up to leave. "Sorry we couldn't stay a little longer, but we know things will be ok with you on the case."

"The hotel has my credit card on the reservation." Dr. Hartford reminded them. "Make yourselves at home, you're my guests, it's all on me. The restaurant will be ready to re-open again by the end of the week."

"I just wanted to say sorry again." Mack interjected. "I really wish we hadn't done that. I know there must have been personal stuff in there."

"The important thing is everyone's alright." RJ stated. "We can always form new memories."

With that, Dr. Hartford and the Overdrive Rangers left the hotel, escorted out the back entrance by security to avoid the press. Despite everything that had happened, the others couldn't help feeling a little sorry for them. They were acting completely under Jellica's control; they really didn't deserve the savage public backlash over their actions considering everything they had done for the earth. They knew Dr. Hartford's legal experts would be doing everything to avoid them being convicted for their actions, but there were already sections of the media and the public who were casting aspersions as to whether their actions were truly involuntary.

"It's at times like this I'm glad our identities aren't public knowledge." Casey sighed morosely, placing an arm around Camille. "They don't deserve this."

"I know what you mean." Theo agreed, pouring himself a glass of wine. "I remember reading the papers back then. They really did a lot for the planet."

"Well I'm a big believer in karma." RJ stated. "I'm sure they'll be fine in the long run. We just have to believe everything will work out fine."

Just then, RJ's cell phone rang. He checked caller ID, and got a slightly confused look on his face. Lily looked at the screen and could see why; he was being called by Master Phant. He hadn't spoken to any of the other masters since his trial by combat with his father. He still hadn't really forgiven them for deceiving him and putting himself and Lily through that ordeal. He answered to phone, a little curious what was going on.

"Master Phant, what can I do for you?" He asked.

"RJ, we just heard about what happened to you and the Rangers." He began. "I wanted to check everything was alright."

"We're fine." He replied. "We got through this..."

"Your dad would like to see you." He interrupted him. "He was really worried when he heard."

"I guess I can see him." RJ responded. "Now if there's nothing else..."

"I'd like to talk to Lily." He interrupted. "Can I speak with her?"

He cupped his hand over the mouthpiece and turned to Lily. "He wants to speak with you." He told her.

Lily was a little confused by this. She had liked Master Phant at first, but like RJ she hadn't spoken to him since the night of the trial. Curious as to what he wanted to say, she took the phone from RJ.

"Master Phant." She began. "What can I do for you?"

"Lily, I'm really sorry I haven't done more to make things up to you." He started. "I know the trial must have been hard on you and RJ. When we heard about the attack, I was just so worried about you."

"I'm fine Master Phant." She replied. "We're all a little bruised up, but nothing worse than we're used to."

"I'm really pleased to hear that." He responded. "I know this probably isn't the best of times, but I was wondering if you could do me a favour."

"You want me to do you a favour?" She asked him. She was a little surprised by his request. He was phoning her only shortly after she'd been kidnapped and almost killed, having not spoken to her in months, and now he was asking for a favour?

"To be more accurate, I was wondering if you'd do a favour for my niece Gabby." He replied, pre-empting her confusion and anger. Lily relented slightly, she had seen pictures of her around Master Phant's house some of the few times she'd been round there. He'd told her a bit about her, she knew how much she meant to him, especially considering he'd had no children of his own. "She's a great dancer. I've tried to encourage her to enter the dance contest in town, but she keeps saying she isn't ready. I was wondering if you could give her a few lessons to boost her confidence."

"What does he want?" RJ whispered. Lily cupped her hand over the mouthpiece, turning to face him.

"He wants me to give his niece dance lessons." She replied.

"Go ahead." RJ implored her. "It'll take your mind off things. Besides, you love dancing."

Lily gave him a slightly unconvinced look and smiled. RJ knew she liked Master Phant, and that it had been hard for her to turn her back on him. She knew he wanted her to make things up with him for her sake. She thought about it for a second before answering. She really had missed the old master, they'd become friends and she wanted them to mend bridges between them. Besides, RJ was right, until they got back into the restaurant, it would help take her mind off things.

"I'll do it." She replied. "Tell her I'll meet her in the park tomorrow at 9."

"I'll do that." He replied with an obvious note of happiness in his voice. As much as Lily had missed him, he had missed her a lot more. He had identified with her when she came to him to train at first. She reminded him so much of his niece. They were about the same age, and they had similar energy and grace, he just hoped that Lily's confidence would rub off on his niece. He was overjoyed to think that things were a little closer to being resolved between them. "Thank you Lily."

As she ended the call, Lily turned and hugged RJ enthusiastically, causing him to wince slightly as she inadvertently exacerbated his injuries. He laughed a little and hugged her back, pleased that she was so happy.

Meanwhile back at the fortress, Jellica was working frantically through the final preparations for the alignment. Dai Shi had renewed and increased searches of the fortress for her, so she knew she didn't have long left. She placed each of the eyes onto a pedestal, awaiting the starlight. She felt a sense of satisfaction wash over her as the starlight streamed into the room, shining through the eyes empowering them.

"Arise my phantom beasts!" She yelled with the excitement of the desperate. A bright light heralded the rebirth of the three remaining phantom beast generals. Jellica approached as they stood before her, observing her powerful new allies with a renewed excitement.

"By the ancient laws you now obey me!" She announced. The three phantom beasts bowed their heads briefly in acknowledgement. "Now it is time to destroy Dai Shi and claim his throne for myself."

As she led them from the room, they exchanged a brief glance, wordlessly communicating their thoughts. They had been destroyed by the Pai Zhuq once before, and had been revived to do battle once more. This time things would be different, this time they would be on the winning side.

Dai Shi was sitting on his throne carefully studying an ancient scroll, scrutinising the architectural layout of the fortress. He had taken it forcefully from the previous owner centuries ago. It wasn't his, and he was quickly coming to the conclusion that there were sections of the fortress even he didn't know about.

He traced his fingers down the passageways and rooms, he suddenly found something odd. There was indeed a room he knew nothing about. He hadn't noticed it, but there appeared to be a room a short way from the throne room that he hadn't found. He could only presume that was where Jellica was preparing to revive the phantoms.

Throwing aside the scroll, he got up from his throne and strode towards the doors, before they were thrown open, heralding the arrival of Jellica and the phantoms. He was too late.

"Your time has come Dai Shi!" She sneered, circling him in preparation for the attack. Dai Shi never even turned to face her as she made her way behind him. He knew he could destroy her, what concerned him was the attack of the phantoms. He observed them thoughtfully, preparing for their attack.

"I followed you faithfully for years!" She stated. "I trained you to increase your power and how do you repay me? You hunt me down, seeking to destroy me!"

"You turned your back on me when Grizzaka came back." Dai Shi reminded her. "You sided with him over me. The moment you thought I was overmatched, you betrayed me! You know better than anyone how I reward betrayal. You have carried out more than a few such executions under my orders."

"You are right. I thought Grizzaka was the right horse to back." She said in a casual drawl as he continued to keep the phantoms in view. "Of course in his arrogance he didn't just destroy you when he had the chance. A mistake I shall not repeat. Phantom beasts, destroy him!"

Dai Shi powered up into his armoured mode, preparing for the attack. The three phantoms launched energy waves a little way past him, destroying Jellica utterly, leaving only a small puddle of gel on the floor. Dai Shi turned back to the phantoms at seeing the display of power.

"Impressive." He thought aloud. "Unexpected, but impressive. I suppose now..."

"We pledge our loyalty to you Dai Shi." They chorused, all taking a knee before him. Dai Shi powered down, his mouth open in shock as he saw this.

"But you spent centuries trying to destroy me." He responded.

"We now realise we would have won the beast war if we'd aligned ourselves with you." One of them stated. "I am General Snapper, bearer of the spirit of the snapping turtle."

"I am Whiger, bearer of the spirit of the white tiger." The second added.

"I am Scorch, with the spirit of the Avalonian Dragon." The third added. "We were destroyed by the Pai Zhuq masters because of our splintered and unified campaign. Our lack of tactics and direction was our down fall. We want you to be our Phantom Beast King."

"We have a power even greater than zukado." Snapper informed him. "It is called rinzin. It is our life blood. We also command the power of eight phantom beasts."

"You will have time to introduce them to me later." Dai Shi announced as he began pondering their offer. He could feel their power, it was palpable. While it was true that the phantom beasts had never been the deepest of thinkers, their power was undeniable. Each of the generals was easily capable of destroying him. He suddenly got a thought crossed his mind. "You have a lot of power to offer, but my trust must be earned. Bring me the Masters."

"It will be done Dai Shi!" Snapper replied, bowing as they left. Dai Shi went back to his throne and sat down, staring at the patch of gel on the floor that used to be the last of the overlords.

"You know the idea of turning those the Rangers care about against them was a good plan." He mused. "Perhaps you weren't as useless as I thought."

He snapped his fingers, calling forth some Rinshi warriors.

"Clean that up will you." He commanded. "I quite like that carpet."


	6. The Phantoms Strike

The following morning, Master Finn was sitting down to breakfast when his cell phone began chiming the theme tune from 'Jaws'. Checking caller ID, he hurriedly answered as he realised it was Master Phant calling.

"Are they alright?" He asked in a mild hysteria. Having heard of the attack on the pizza parlour during the week, he'd been frantic with worry about his son. He'd tried to contact him a couple of times since the trial to no avail; he still hadn't forgiven him for his part in the whole ordeal.

"They're all fine Finn." He answered. "I'll be seeing Lily later today with any luck."

"That's great to hear Phant." He replied, breathing a sigh of relief. He still worried about his son, and wanted nothing more than to rush round to see him and check on him himself. He was just sure that RJ would turn him away again. RJ was as stubborn as he was when he was hurt, and he knew that the deception Finn took part in with the trial had hurt him terribly. He still regretted going through with it, he'd only just begun to have a cordial relationship with his son after not speaking for many years over a stupid argument about him not wanting to learn the Shark Technique, only to throw all of that work away so carelessly with a barbaric and anachronistic ritual. Despite his devotion to the traditions of the Pai Zhuq temple, he had to admit that if he had the opportunity to do so again, he'd have chosen his son over the temple. That was why he had gotten Phant to call them. Swoop was one of RJ's closest friends, and he was his father, so their betrayal had hurt him worst of all.

"You know, now might be a good time to go and see him." Phant suggested. "Things like this make you see what's important. Maybe RJ will be willing to see you."

"I'm not sure Phant." He replied. "I want to see him..."

"Then go." He interrupted. "What's the worst that could happen?"

"We could start fighting again." He responded. "I really don't have it in me to fight with him anymore. He was just so angry the last time I saw him."

"Well you might still want to consider it." He told him. "You nearly lost him. If anything had happened, all you'd remember is your last words with each other being in anger. Do you really want that to happen?"

"I suppose not Phant." He sighed. "Maybe I should have been the one to retire. You always were the smart one."

"Just think about it." Phant told him with a cheerful chuckle. "I promised to call Swoop too. I'll leave you to it."

With that, he hung up and prepared to call Swoop. At that point, Swoop was practicing some Tai Chi in the woods. Theo arrived as he was finishing up his latest routine. Despite the fact that RJ and Lily hadn't spoken with the masters since the fight, and Casey had sided with them, Theo had been going to see Swoop on occasion. He liked the Bat Master, and he didn't really feel as angry about the whole situation as the others. Despite hating what they had done to his friends, he'd always been a lot more seriously minded when it came to the traditions of the temple, and so he at least understood their actions. He didn't hold it against Swoop and had been seeing him on occasion to talk and occasionally to train. Swoop's head snapped up from his concentration as he heard Theo's footsteps.

"Hello Theo." He greeted the young man. "I heard you all had some excitement recently."

"I wouldn't exactly phrase it like that." He replied. "How have things been?"

"Well, things have been pretty quiet for me recently." He stated. "How are the others?"

"They're all getting on OK." He responded in a sigh. "We're all glad we got out of this alright, and we're looking forward to getting back to the pizza parlour when it's rebuilt."

"How's Fran?" He asked him with a sly grin. "I remember you weren't so happy the last time I saw you. Have you made it up?"

"We have." He replied. "We had a long talk and sorted some things out. She'll be moving in when the restaurant re-opens."

"It sounds like things are getting serious." He commented as he took a seat on the grass. "I'm really happy for you; she seems like a lovely young woman."

"I couldn't be happier about being with her." He told the master, sitting on the grass next to him. "She saved us when we were in trouble. She's doing really well in training, and her animal spirit's really strong. She never fails to amaze me. I'm seriously thinking of asking her to move in."

"I thought you said she was moving in?" Swoop asked, obviously not getting what Theo was getting at.

"No, I mean, you know, move in, move in." He stated for clarification.

"Do you really think you're ready for that?" Swoop asked him. "You know how much the two of you were upset before."

"We've talked about it and we have a better understanding of where we see things going." He responded. "This whole thing made me think a lot more about my life, and how I feel about her. I really think I'm ready for this, I love her so much, and I really want to spend as much time as I can with her."

"Does she feel the same way?" Swoop asked him.

"I think so." He answered. "I think the time's right for us."

"Well I couldn't be happier for you." He replied being interrupted as his cell phone rang. Theo gave him a slightly disbelieving look.

"You're kidding right?" He asked as Swoop retrieved his cell phone from his pocket. "Your ringtone's the 'Batman' theme tune?"

"It just seemed to fit." He chuckled. "Mind if I take this?"

"Of course I don't." Theo replied. Swoop answered the phone, smiling as he heard the voice on the other end.

"Phant, how are you?" He asked. "I take it you've spoken with the others."

"I have." He responded. "They all seem to be fine."

"Theo was just telling me the same thing." He told him. "He came over this morning."

"Well I managed to talk Lily into giving Gabby some dance lessons." He told the Bat Master. "With luck I might be able to mend some bridges with her."

"How's Finn holding up?" He asked.

"This whole thing's hit him pretty hard." Phant replied. "I've tried to talk him into going to see RJ."

"I really hope those two manage to patch things up." Swoop replied. "Anyway, I have a guest, so I'll have to cut this short. Take care Phant."

"You too Swoop." He replied, hanging up. Swoop folded away his cell phone before getting back to his feet and pulling out a war fan. "So Theo, fancy a bit of sparring?"

"You bet." He replied, pulling out one of his own. "I think I should warn you, I've been practicing."

"Well let's just see what you've learned." He responded, adopting a guard. "Come on!"

Meanwhile back in the hotel, Lily had just gathered the last of her training gear into a sports bag, ready for her lesson with Gabby. RJ came up behind her, wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her into him.

"You seem cheerful this morning." He commented squeezing her gently. "You're really looking forward to this aren't you?"

"You know how much I love dancing." She replied, reaching back and kissing his cheek. "I've heard so much about Gabby I can't wait to meet her."

"I suppose you'll be going to see Master Phant afterwards." He responded. "I think it's great. I know how much you've missed him."

"You know, this experience has shown all of us how easily things could go south quickly." Lily told him seriously, turning to face him and wrapping her arms around his neck. RJ sighed and looked away as she said this. He knew what was about to come.

"Lily, that's different." He interrupted coldly.

"RJ, I really think this might be a good time to make things up with your dad." She told him. "I know how much this hurt, but this should have shown you. You never know when something might happen. Just think how you'd feel if something happened to him and you hadn't made things up with him."

RJ released her and sat down on the couch, a little unconvinced. "Like I said Lily, it's different. You weren't the one who was led to believe you'd have to kill your own dad."

Lily realised things could go on like this forever and conceded it was possibly a lost battle. She picked up her sports bag, shouldering it and kissing him on the cheek as she prepared to leave.

"Just...promise me you'll think about it, OK?" She implored him. With that, she left the room. RJ was happy for her to try to re-open communication with Master Phant, she had missed him. He just wasn't sure he was ready to talk to his dad. He'd considered it a few times, but any time he thought about it, his anger overtook him. He sat considering it when Dom approached him.

"You know she's a smart woman." He remarked. "You should listen to her."

RJ gestured for him to sit down on the couch. Dom took a deep breath as he prepared to have the conversation with RJ he'd postponed the previous night.

"RJ, I just wanted to say, sorry I hit you. I shouldn't have done that." He began.

"Dom, you were angry, I understand that." RJ replied. Dom cut him off by holding up a hand.

"I was hurt when I found out about Dad and Jarrod." He continued with a heavy sigh. "I was just so angry at being lied to that I just wanted everyone involved to hurt as much as I did. I was wrong, I know I was."

"Dominic, I can't imagine how hurt you were." RJ interjected, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Mack told me a little something about himself." Dominic remarked. "He made me see things in perspective."

"He told you about the android thing?" RJ asked. "He told me himself a while back."

"He did tell me that." Dominic replied. "He told me how hurt he was too. But he also told me how he got over it. It's going to hurt for a long time, but he told me that I need to remember what's important."

"Which is?" RJ asked.

"The important thing is the people who have always been there for me and the people who have always cared about me." He replied. "RJ, you've been like a brother to me for years. I know you've only ever tried to do what's best for me."

"It wasn't easy finding out when I did." RJ replied. "I actually found myself resenting Master Mao for telling me. I was in a no-win situation. If I kept it from you this would happen..."

"But it's not like I'd have thanked you if you told me." Dominic interrupted. "RJ, I can't say it didn't hurt knowing you kept this from me, but like I said. I can understand why you did it. I know you'd never do anything to hurt me deliberately. You've only ever tried to be there for me."

"Dom, it's been killing me thinking you hate me." RJ told him. "You're my best friend. Can you forgive me for not knowing what to do?"

"RJ, of course I'll forgive you." Dominic answered seriously. "It hurts, but it's not worth losing my best friend over. Just like this isn't worth losing your dad over."

RJ stopped in his tracks and looked at the floor. Dominic had managed to sneak that little sucker punch in beautifully.

"Your dad's made mistakes; he'll be the first to admit that I'm sure." Dominic continued. "He made his decisions based on what he knows, and sometimes he messed up. The thing is he's only ever acted out of love. He might be a little short-sighted at times, but he's only ever wanted what's best for you."

"You know at times I wonder when you became so smart." RJ responded.

"I guess it runs in the family." Dominic replied. "That and having some pretty good friends."

"I'll go and see him." RJ replied. "I'm glad we had this talk."

"Me too." Dominic replied.

Later in the day, Lily made her way to Master Phant's house to talk to him about her lesson with Gabby. She could see that the young girl was talented, but things hadn't gone as well as she had hoped. She was sure that Gabby didn't want to dance; she kept coming up with excuses why she wasn't trying, and had left with barely a word, which was a shame because she was so good. She approached the house finding Phant tending the garden she had planted for him. Since her first visit, he had actually become quite fond of his new garden and had taken to tending it with care. Lily smiled as she saw this, coming over to him, glad that some of the habits he'd adopted since she encouraged him out of his self-imposed funk.

"The petunias are coming through well." She greeted him. Master Phant put down his trowel and turned to face her, a huge smile crossing his face. As much as she had missed him, he had also missed her dreadfully. She had been the first person to have any time for him since he'd taken up residence in the woods following his 'retirement' from the temple. With the exception of the occasional visit from his brother and his niece, Lily was the only person who enjoyed visiting him. Lily broke the awkward moment first, gesturing for a hug. Master Phant was only too happy to comply, trying hard not to shed a tear as he hugged her. It felt good to have her back in his life.

"How were things with Gabby?" He asked her. He wanted nothing more than to sit down with her and catch up on everything that had happened since they'd stopped speaking, but he didn't want to bring up the subject of RJ and risk her leaving again.

"Master Phant, I'm not sure she wants to dance." Lily told him, releasing the hug. "It's really sad, because I know she has potential, but she keeps coming up with excuses not to practice. I don't think she'll be ready for the competition."

"What makes you want to practice?" He asked her.

"I've just always loved to dance." Lily said thinking about it. "I've always enjoyed the passion; it's always made me happy..."

"Maybe you just need to find a way to make Gabby feel that love." He suggested. "I remember visiting her father's house when she was young. He asked me to go to her room and fetch her for dinner. She didn't see me or hear me open the door, and I saw her dancing around the room. She was so graceful and elegant. I know this is what she enjoys, she's just always been afraid of failure, that's why I encouraged her to enter the contest. You and she are so much alike; I just hoped if you helped her, she'd gain some of your confidence."

"I'll try my best Master Phant." She replied. "You always were able to explain things in a way that made me see clearly. I really missed our talks."

"So did I Lily." He responded happily. "Anyway, I heard about you and RJ. Have you set a date?"

"We decided to leave off setting a date until we've finished off Dai Shi." She answered, showing the old master her engagement ring. "We figured we wanted to wait until we could do it properly without having to worry about another attack."

"I guess that's a good idea." He remarked, observing her once more with a sense of happiness. He'd definitely missed her.

Finn was busy sanding his boat when a shadow blocked out his light. He turned around, finding himself surprised as he found RJ standing there. He dropped the sanding block and approached him slowly.

"Hello Dad." He began. "Can we talk?"

"Of course we can." Finn replied, sitting on a stool and offering one to RJ before he collapsed from shock. As happy as he was to see his son, RJ coming to see him was the last thing he expected.

Later in the afternoon back at Master Phant's house, Lily and Master Phant were enjoying a long conversation, catching up over tea as his cell phone began ringing to the tune of 'Nellie the Elephant'. Lily giggled as she heard this.

"I'm sorry, that still always makes me laugh." She told him.

"How are things Finn?" He asked.

"RJ just left." He said with an obvious joy in his voice.

"RJ?" He asked. Lily smiled as she heard him say this. So much had happened to all of them recently that she hoped he'd listen to her and talk to his dad. As much as he had maintained otherwise, she knew it hurt RJ to cut him out of his life. "That's great news. I'm sure Lily will be thrilled."

"Is my future daughter-in-law there?" He asked. Phant just laughed and handed over the phone.

"I hope you take good care of my son Lily." He told her. "You're a good woman; he deserves to be happy with someone like you."

"Thanks Master Finn." She replied. "I'll definitely look after him."

"Well welcome to the family." He said cheerfully. "I promise I'll come and see you soon to do this properly."

"I'd like that." She responded. "I'll see you later."

"I'll see you later." He replied as he hung up. It was then that he was thrown across the room by a power blast. Pulling himself to his feet, he drew his swords.

"You're coming with me." General Whiger snarled. Finn surged forward, brining his swords to bear.

Swoop was finishing up his meal when he heard someone enter the room behind him. He grabbed his war fans cautiously.

"I know it's not Theo, your footsteps are too heavy." He commented, getting to his feet and opening the fans. "Can I ask who I'm fighting before we begin?"

"I am Phantom Beast General Scorch." He replied. "I guess you want to do this the hard way."

"The thing about being blind is you can't see when you should be scared." He stated sarcastically, drawing into a guard. "Shall we begin?"

Lily was just finishing up her tea when she checked her watch, realising how late it was.

"Oh god, RJ expected me half an hour ago!" She shrieked. "Sorry Master Phant, I'll have to go."

"No problem at all Lily." He responded. "I'm really glad we had this talk."

Heading outside, they were confronted by a hideous monster, standing a few feet away. Both Lily and Phant could feel the power of his animal spirit, realising that he was a powerful foe. As Lily morphed and called forth her Jungle Mace, Phant pulled his from beneath his cloak.

"I recognise you from the scrolls in the temple." He gasped. "Lily, he's one of the Phantom Beasts. It's General Snapper!"

"A Master and a Ranger," Snapper sneered, "this is going to be fun."


	7. The Spirit Rangers Arrive

A/N: A quick thank you to Warlord Xana who pointed out that following some recent edits, I inadvertantly posted chapter 4 as chapter 5 (posting it twice) by mistake. The problem's now fixed, hope it didn't put anyone off.

Just another quick word. Some have been posting spoilers in their reviews. While I understand this is being done so that I have the information to write this fic, several people do not yet know these things about the season, so this is just a polite request that if you ARE going to give me spoilers (which I appreciate by the way) please feel free to send them in a PM just so they aren't the public forum. All comments are gratefullly received.

RJ and the others were gathered in the hotel for dinner, but unusually for RJ, he wasn't in the mood to eat. By now Lily was almost two hours later than she said she'd be and they hadn't received any kind of word for her. It was so out of character for her that RJ was becoming a little concerned. He paced the room, stopping every now and again by the window, looking out to see if he could see some sign of her.

"She's a big girl RJ." Casey said half-jokingly. He was a little concerned himself, it wasn't like her not to contact them if she was getting sidetracked, but he could see RJ was worried and was trying to keep the situation light hearted.

"She's never late." He replied. "I'm going to look for her."

Almost on cue, the door to their suite opened and Lily staggered in. Her clothes were dirty and roughed up, her hair was out of place and she hobbled in an ungainly manner that informed them she'd been in a fight recently, a fight it looked like she'd lost.

"The phantoms have been revived." She informed them as RJ rushed to her side, putting his arms around her. "One of them showed up at Master Phant's place."

"Are you alright?" He asked her. "What happened?"

"Master Phant said his name was General Snapper." She informed them. "We fought for a while, but he was too powerful. He was way more powerful than anything we've ever faced. I failed him; I failed all of you..."

"Calm down Lily." RJ compelled her, comforting her in her moment of torment. He knew she was always her own harshest critic. "Just tell us what happened."

"He laid me out." She told them. "When I came to, Master Phant was gone. I think Snapper took him."

"Theo, Casey, go and check on Master Swoop." RJ instructed, getting his coat on. "Dominic, come with me."

They left the room, leaving Fran and Camille to tend to Lily's injuries. RJ hoped he was wrong in his suspicions, but if he wasn't, then the phantoms were gathering the Masters for some reason. He just hoped they weren't too late.

Back in the fortress, the three defeated masters were brought before Dai Shi in chains. The phantom beast generals forced them to their knees and into a low bow.

"This is the only way you can get us to bow to you Dai Shi." Finn hissed aggressively, struggling against Scorch's grip. "What do you want from us?"

"Oh I just wanted you to see me winning the beast war first hand." He replied in a casual drawl. "Of course, why just watch when you can be a part of it?"

"You must be starting to believe your own hype." Swoop responded in a sarcastic laugh. "I have no idea how you got the phantoms to obey you, but they'll be destroyed just as surely as you will in the end."

"They obey me because unlike Jellica, they know which horse to back if they want to win. Your faith in the cubs is misplaced." He sneered. "You know how easily they defeated one of the Rangers, don't you Phant?"

"Lily will come back!" He snarled. "And when she does, she'll bring the Rangers with her and then..."

"Then the phantoms will destroy all five of them." He interrupted. "Put them in position."

The phantoms hauled the struggling masters to a nearby wall where they attached them to the wall with heavy shackles.

"You know, despite being spineless, and being an invertebrate I mean that literally, Jellica had a pretty good idea." He mused as Whiger brought out a couple of stands, setting them in place before them. He swaggered over to them, beginning to place the eyes on the stands. "Having my own team of Rangers might just be what I need to tip the scales."

"You're as deluded as you are evil Dai Shi." Swoop snapped, struggling against his restraints. "We'll never work for you."

"Something tells me you'll think differently soon." He replied, pulling aside some drapes, allowing the star light to shine through the eyes and into the masters. They all writhed in agony as power surged through them, burning through their muscles like an inferno. Before long, the ritual was complete. Where the masters once stood, three Rangers clad in white body suits now stood, each trimmed in the colour of their respective animal spirits. They snapped the chains from their wrists with ease, stepping forward and taking a knee before their new master.

"Soon it will be time to reveal my latest weapon to the Rangers." He mused. "Until then, what do you have for me? I wish to test the power of my Rangers myself before I set them loose."

"My first beast is called Sonimax." Whiger informed him, calling forth his boar creature.

"Sonimax?" Dai Shi sneered. "He sounds like a stereo."

"My lord, he commands the spirit of the wild boar." Snapper informed him. "He also controls sonic..."

"Just set him loose on the city." He replied dismissively. "He'll serve his purpose. In the meantime, I'll get my Rangers ready for battle."

Theo and Casey arrived at Master Swoop's house finding the grounds in ruin. Clearly there had been an epic battle recently. Going inside, Theo rummaged through the wreckage finding a scorched war fan. He presented the damaged weapon to Casey.

"It looks like Swoop's been taken too." He remarked. "I think we should call RJ."

Casey pulled out his solar morpher, activating the communications link. "RJ, Swoop's been taken too."

RJ though was already standing in what was left of Finn's house and workshop. He pulled his communicator to his mouth as he sank into a chair.

"Dad's gone too." He whispered in a defeated tone, devastated by the loss of his father just as they were beginning to mend bridges. "They're all gone."

"It looks like they took all of them." Theo replied. "What for?"

"I don't think it'll be long before we find out." RJ stated sagely. "Make your way back to the hotel room. I'll meet you there."

Back in the hotel, they assembled in the main room of their suite, gathering their thoughts.

"Why would they take the masters?" Lily asked, removing the ice pack from the large red welt on her forehead. "They aren't even involved."

"They are to Dai Shi." RJ answered her. "They're as much a part of this as we are just through being Pai Zhuq masters. We're all involved. From now on no one goes anywhere alone. Not even you Fran."

"Me?" She shrieked.

"Dai Shi knows you have power over your animal spirit." He replied. "From now on, he'll probably consider you a target. He won't want to take chances taking you lightly."

"What can we do about the phantoms?" Theo asked. "We can all see what they did to Lily."

Just then their morphers bleeped, announcing another attack in the city. RJ flicked on the TV, switching to the local news to find Sonimax tearing up downtown.

"I guess we get to test our combined strength against a phantom sooner than we intended." He remarked. "Guys, it's time to go."

Back in the fortress, Dai Shi was testing his strength against his new Rangers. One by one they attacked him with a fury unlike anything he'd ever known. The power of the eyes had not turned them into slaves, just as he wanted. Mindless drones would be defeated easily. Instead it had made them susceptible to his suggestion while heightening any negative emotions they had to their intended targets. He finished his training session by dumping Phant on his ass for the umpteenth time.

"You are all strong." He remarked. "You all remember why I summoned you?"

"To destroy the Rangers!" They chorused together.

"Maybe I should get you to clarify your motives." He mused. "Would you care to elaborate?"

"My son has never respected me!" Finn snarled, thrusting his fist through a concrete pillar. "If he will not respect me in life, I'll force him to respect me in death!"

"Theo thinks he has all the answers, yet he goes behind his friend's backs to see me." Swoop muttered as he rose from his seating position. "I will show him how duplicity is rewarded."

"Lily abandoned me for her lover." Phant roared, snapping to his feet. "If she wants to be with the wolf master so badly, I'll send them both straight to hell to be with each other forever!"

"There are two other Rangers to contend with." He reminded them. "Do not forget the tiger or the rhino."

"They will feed the worms as surely as the others." The Black Ranger commented. "When they have been dealt with and you are victorious, the world will tremble at your feet Dai Shi."

"That sounds appealing." He remarked. "Go to Ocean Bluff and observe the battle, but do not act until I give the word." He gave them an evil smirk. "Let Sonimax show what he was made of."

In Ocean Bluff, Finn, Swoop and Phant teleported close to the site of the battle as the Rangers struggled against Sonimax.

"They are not worthy of our attentions." Phant sneered, seeing them being dashed to the ground by an attack. "If one as weak as the glorified pig can hand them their asses so easily..."

"Just watch old timer." Finn interjected. "The fight isn't over yet."

The five Rangers assembled in the central plaza, hauling themselves to their feet painfully. Sonimax was by far the most powerful creature they'd faced. RJ took the point position at the front as they faced off against him.

"Guys, this is a tough one." He remarked.

"We have to combine our power!" Lily stated, taking over the point position. "This is for Gabby and Master Phant. Charge on my command. NOW!"

They five Rangers surged towards Sonimax as he tried to blast them down again, though their combined energy was too much for him. Dashing aside his attack, they ploughed through him, destroying him in a massive explosion. Or so they thought.

Sonimax revived and grew to massive size, towering over them.

"Like we've never seen that before." Dominic sneered. "Time for the zords?"

"Jungle Master Megazord!" Lily, Casey and Theo chorused as they adopted the formation.

"Wolf Pride Megazord!" RJ snapped, joining them.

"Rhino Steel Zord, Warrior Mode!" Dominic boomed, slipping inside his zord. "Ready to give up?"

"Not likely!" Snapper announced as he arrived on the scene in massive form. "Feel the force of my Rinzin Power!"

"Rinzin Power?" Theo asked aloud. "Why does that not sound good?"

Suddenly a massive energy wave flared up, kicking the Rangers and their zords clean across town. Snapper laughed as he saw them scattering so pathetically.

"Leave them." Dai Shi ordered, seeing the scene of devastation in a viewing image from his fortress. "Let's see what the Spirit Rangers can do."

"But my lord..."

"Do not question me Snapper." He interrupted coldly. "You came to me for guidance remember?"

Snapper backed off, teleporting both himself and Sonimax away from the battlefield.

The Rangers pulled themselves to their feet and dusted themselves off as they turned their attention back to the battlefield, seeing Snapper and Sonimax disappearing without explanation.

"Why did they just fade out?" RJ asked as they assembled. "Why not press the advantage?"

"I think they might have something to do with it?" Casey chipped in as a lightning bolt struck the ground, heralding the arrival of the Spirit Rangers. Observing them carefully, it became painfully obvious to each of the Rangers who they were. The one rimmed in Cyan had a crest atop his helmet like that of a shark. The one trimmed in green's helmet was patterned after an elephant while the Black Ranger's helmet had huge bat-like ears on his helmet.

"Dad?" RJ asked weakly, seeing them advance.

"Do not dare to call me that." The Shark Ranger snarled as they pulled into a guard. "No son of mine could be so pathetic! I shall destroy you simply to chlorinate my bloodline!"

"Master Swoop, you have to fight this!" Theo implored him. "You're stronger than this, please!"

"Maybe I've been on the wrong side all along young jaguar." He snorted dismissively. "You always were a pathetic, second-string pupil. I wasted so long trying to teach you. Now I'll realise my full potential."

"Master Phant, you can't do this!" Lily screeched, looking to the Elephant Ranger. "What about your family? What about Gabby?"

"She was as pathetic as you were Yellow Ranger." He sneered. He began mocking her voice. "Oh, I'm blind, I'm going to cry...Oh Look, My boyfriend's a werewolf I'm going to cry...Oh dear I've been kidnapped. What am I going to do, something useful to get myself out of this? No, I think I'll cry!"

Lily felt the rage boiling in her as he mocked her, her fists balling tightly. She brought her head up to make her eyes meet with his through the visor of his helmet.

"You can't be Master Phant." She hissed, tears rolling down her cheeks. "He could never be so cruel. I don't know who you are, but if I have to face you I will."

"As if it would matter cub!" Swoop replied as they began circling the Rangers. "We will destroy you. I just hope we leave enough of you behind to present a suitable tribute to Dai Shi."

"I don't want to do this dad." RJ commented as they lined up, preparing to morph. "But if this is the only way, then I have to do it."

"Jungle Beast, SPIRIT UNLEASHED!" They chorused together.


	8. FamiliesCan't Live With Them

The three evil Rangers surged forward, forcing those they cared about to defend themselves. The Black Ranger began, tackling Dominic and Theo, taking them down quickly in a whirlwind of attacks.

"Remember they're masters!" RJ called out, attempting to restrain the Shark Ranger. "As much as we don't want to fight, we can't go easy on them, they're too strong!"

The Shark Ranger called forth a duplicate of the Shark Sabres, swinging around and slashing them across RJ's chest viciously.

"I bet you're wishing you paid a bit more attention to the shark technique." Finn sneered as he brought them down again, smashing RJ out of his Ranger mode. He threw a kick, which RJ blocked, but as he was about to throw a counter, he found himself stopping in his tracks, unwilling to hurt his father intentionally. The moment's hesitation was all he needed to bring the hilt of a sabre into RJ's chin, knocking him senseless.

"RJ!" Casey yelled as he called forth his own shark sabres, surging to the attack.

"Let's see what you've learned." He replied confidently, parrying the first attack.

Dominic and Theo were faring no better with their own battle. Swoop was a slippery opponent to say the least. Since he didn't need to use his eyesight to know where his opponents were, he seemed to avoid every attack by millimetres without really trying. Every time an attack would come his way, he'd twist seemingly impossible just out of reach before launching into a skilful counter.

"Rhino Blade, Super Blade attack!" Dom called out, powering up his weapon. Swoop leapt towards the attack, swerving in a manner that didn't seem physically possible in the air. Pitching over in the air to land behind him, he powered up his Jungle Fans, locking the Rhino Blade in a hard grip, tearing it from his hand before knocking him to the ground.

"A cumbersome and clumsy weapon." He taunted him, tossing it aside. "Let me show you how a bit of style affects the outcome of a battle."

He swiped his fans around in a deadly and destructive storm of strikes, completely overwhelming Dominic, smashing him out of Ranger mode with ease.

"Swoop, you've got to stop this!" Theo yelled as he called forth his war fans, rushing to the attack.

"Good, you've learned well!" Swoop complimented him, blocking the first few attacks, before trapping his wrists in the crook of his elbow. He powered up his remaining fan menacingly as Theo struggled against his grip. "You're just not good enough."

With that, he swung his weapon, taking Theo down dismissively.

Lily quickly found herself struggling against Phant. Try as she might, her own skill with the Jungle Mace far exceeded her own. He whipped her feet away from her, sending her to the ground before a hard stomp sent a massive shockwave through the earth, smashing her out of Ranger mode.

Lily tried to crawl away to regain her composure, but he sent forth the mace, the chain wrapping its way around her left wrist. He pulled her over towards him, whipping the chain around in a skilful pattern, before forcing her to her knees before him. Lily found her wrists bound tightly together by the chain. As she struggled to free herself, she panicked as Phant began wrapping the chain around her neck, pulling it taught against her throat. Lily's face flashed red as he pulled it tighter, choking the life out of her.

"Phant, stop this!" She managed to croak in a barely audible voice. Despite quickly running out of air, she didn't really have many other options. She hoped to reach him, trying to get her friend to realise he was killing her before it was too late. "Please!"

Phant pulled the chain tighter, preventing her speaking any further. The numbness in her lips informed her she did not have long left. Her head began to spin as her vision became blurry.

"Lily!" RJ shrieked, seeing her predicament. The other two Masters interjected themselves between Lily and the other Rangers, preventing them from rescuing her. Lily felt the world beginning to fade as she prepared for the end, but it was just as she was about to give up that she felt his grip failing. Phant sank to his knees by her side, de-morphing. Lily looked at him with a mixture of confusion and concern. He had her bang to rights; she maybe only had a few seconds left when he released her. Looking at his face, he looked weaker and frailer than she had ever seen him. He looked like he was about to pass out from his efforts.

"Master Phant!" She croaked, still struggling for breath as she came to his side. He swiped her aside with his arm, continuing to view her with disgust. Whatever influence the phantoms had over him was still in effect, only his powers had failed him for some reason. It was then that Finn collapsed to his knees and de-morphed.

"What's happening to us?" Finn asked, feeling his strength quickly leaving him.

"Another day Rangers!" Swoop snarled as he grabbed his comrades. He too could feel the power draining from him, and he was smart enough to know when discretion was the better part of valour. "We'll be back to finish what we've started."

With that, they returned to Dai Shi's fortress, leaving the Rangers behind. RJ helped Lily to her feet as she stroked the red mark on her neck left by Phant's Jungle Mace.

"What happened?" Casey asked. "What was all that about?"

"I have an idea." RJ commented. "But in the meantime, I think we should regroup back at the restaurant. Something tells me they won't be gone for long."

Back at the fortress, Swoop had no sooner arrived back with the others than his powers failed him and he collapsed to the floor with them. At a gesture from General Scorch, a couple of Rinshi warriors helped them from the room to recuperate.

"What happened?" Dai Shi demanded, entering the room. "I thought you said they were ready!"

"The transformation takes a lot of energy my lord." Scorch responded. "Their power is undeniable, they almost defeated..."

"I am not interested in 'almost' Scorch." Dai Shi snarled, interrupting him. "You want me to be your Phantom Beast King, then I expect results. Power them up and send them back out there."

"They will take time to re-energise." Scorch informed him. "Sending them out there too soon will destroy them."

Dai Shi didn't really care about the welfare of the masters, but he had to admit that the Spirit Rangers were a powerful weapon in his arsenal. Especially since the Rangers seemed to be holding back. He knew the reason they hadn't destroyed him the few times they had a chance was because they hoped to save that fool Jarrod, and most of them didn't even like him. The masters had strong emotional ties to the Rangers that he was hoping to exploit, and it had seemed to be working so far.

"Re-energise them and get them back out there." He demanded. "I expect at least one Ranger destroyed by the end of the day."

Scorch watched him go, a low growl rumbling from his throat. He knew the power of the new Rangers was going to be useful, all it required was a little patience, but Dai Shi was unwilling to wait. He pondered his decision to go along with the other general's decision to side with Dai Shi. They had provided him with their power for this long already, and yet he spoke to him with no respect. He considered why he should accept being treated as a mere servant by one less powerful than himself, but let it go. For the time being at least, his objectives would be best served just accepting the situation as it was. He could always settle up with Dai Shi later.

Back in the restaurant, Fran and Camille were finishing setting up the restaurant for the grand re-opening at the end of the week. Dr. Hartford had paid the construction crew a considerably sum to get their living quarters ready to move into ahead of schedule, and the finishing touches were being made on the restaurant, leading to renewed hope that they would be able to re-open soon. As much as they complained when it was busy, everyone had really missed the restaurant and they were glad to be back in familiar surroundings.

RJ and the Rangers had come back a little while ago and gone upstairs to regroup after their recent defeat, not really in any mood to help with the decorating. She turned to the door as she saw it opening, preparing to tell whoever had come in that they were not yet open for business, before seeing her boyfriend standing before her. A smile came to her lips as she saw him. He seemed to be in much better spirits than when he had come back earlier. She guessed he must have gone for a walk to clear his head after the battle; he had a bit of a habit of going off by himself when he needed to think. She rushed over to him, hugging him tightly.

"You shouldn't take it so hard." She told him, drawing away a little, before kissing him deeply before he could say anything. "It wasn't your fault, you..."

"What the hell's going on here?" Theo roared from the kitchen door. Fran did a double take, looking between Theo and the other arrival in disbelief. Theo saw his twin brother and groaned loudly, realising what had happened.

"Luan, I told you not to come over, things are really busy!" He grumbled.

"Theo I'm sorry I..." Fran began. "Who is this?"

"He's my twin brother Luan." He replied.

"Theo, you never told us you had a twin brother." Fran gasped, realising her mistake. She turned a little red as she turned back to Luan extending a hand for a handshake. "I'm Fran, Theo and I have been dating for a while."

"I wish I was greeted everywhere I go like that." Luan said cheekily, taking amusement in Fran's embarrassment. He guessed she must have been more than a little embarrassed by what had happened. "You're a lucky guy Theo."

"Luan, I told you, we can catch up another time but right now we're really busy." He told him. "We still have to rebuild the restaurant and..."

"Well I'm not doing anything." He interrupted. "Maybe I can help."

"Well it would be good to get to know the family." Fran said cheerfully, giving Theo a little look over her shoulder that informed him they would have a lot to talk about later. He placed his palm over his eyes and shook his head, completely defeated as he realised that his brother had once again managed to waltz into his life and throw everything out of kilter. They had been apart for a long time now, and he was used to his life being ordered. He just knew Luan turning up would cause trouble.

Back in the fortress, the masters were locked back in a cell. They struggled against their restraints as they felt the power of the eyes slowly beginning to strip away their will. Since the battle, they had begun to regain control over the actions. They knew it was the eyes that made them act that way, though fortunately Dai Shi had been too impatient to allow the eyes to completely transfer their power, making the transfer permanent. Phant sat slumped in the corner, completely dejected. The battle had taken a lot out of him. As much as he felt completely drained, by far what made him feel the worst was the pain he felt over his actions towards Lily.

He could remember feeling the chain sinking into her flesh, squeezing her windpipe. The look of fear and betrayal in her eyes as he squeezed the life out of her haunted him. A few tears formed in his eyes as he thought about her.

She had done so much to help him since he'd met her. She never gave up on him even when he had succumbed to self pity following his retirement. Her energy and enthusiasm had lifted him out of his low ebb. He had been overjoyed when she came back into his life after all that time, and he was thrilled for her when he found out about the engagement. RJ was a good man and he could see that she loved him dearly.

Finn on the other hand could only feel his own disappointment in his weakness as he failed to resist the eye's power. He had fought his own son yet again, this time with a murderous intent. He had also hurt Casey very badly during the battle. He didn't like to say anything, but in a lot of ways his relationship with Casey was kind of a selfish one.

Casey's determination and force of will reminded him so much of his own son that at times he had to do a double take to realise that he wasn't RJ. In many ways, he had resigned himself to the fact that while his relationship with RJ had become cordial over the last few months, there was still a distance there between them. There were many issues between them that he wasn't sure they would ever get over, so in many ways he saw Casey as a second chance to have that relationship he longed for so much, even if it wasn't with his son.

"Are they ready yet?" Dai Shi asked as Scorch observed the prisoners.

"They are still trying to resist the power." Scorch told him. "In time..."

"I want them ready to do battle with the Rangers again soon." He interrupted the general. "In the meantime, send one of your beasts against them."

"I have just the beast in mind." He replied.

Back at the restaurant, RJ had sent the Rangers down to the restaurant to help redecorate and take their minds off the battle with the Spirit Rangers. As much as they wanted to talk through the issue, but they'd ended up just talking themselves round in circles, resigning themselves to the fact that they were not getting anywhere with finding answers. Instead they had taken to finding out more about Theo's brother.

"I can't believe he never mentioned him." Fran commented to Lily as she opened a fresh can of paint.

"I know, I've known Theo for years and he never said anything." Lily replied. "I can't believe how different they are."

"Man, can you believe how cool Luan is?" Dominic remarked coming over to them. "He was just telling me about the last time he went diving with sharks off the coast of Australia. How come you never told us about him Theo?"

"We just don't get on that well, so we tend to stay away from each other." He replied. "We get together a couple of times a year for holidays, but if we're together for too long we just end up fighting."

"Hey, all brothers do that." Dominic chuckled, taking the tin of paint from Fran and heading back towards the restaurant, out the kitchen door.

"Why do you fight so much?" Fran asked him. "I mean you're different and all..."

"We're not just different, we have no common ground." He responded. "He's never focussed on anything in his life. We're just…"

"Night and day?" Fran suggested. Theo nodded.

"We try to get along, but he just can't understand what's important to me, so we end up at each other's throats."

"Well I don't know about you guys, but I could use some fresh air." Lily told them. "Theo, RJ wants us to get some supplies. Theo, do you want to come with me?"

"If you mean do I want to get away from Luan for a little while, then fine. Just let me change out of my coveralls." He replied, heading for the stairs.

Up in the back room, RJ was checking over footage of the Ranger's earlier fight with the Evil Rangers, trying to find something, anything he could use to tip the scales in their favour. He knew it was hard for the Rangers to fight against them, even he had his reservations. Finn was his father, and so facing off against him wasn't exactly a tempting prospect, but then again he'd also been friends with Swoop for years and didn't really want to fight him either.

That said Master Phant's assault on Lily had shown him the stark reality of their predicament. The Masters were under the control of the phantoms, and so like it or not their lives were in danger. He noticed Theo coming over to him.

"I thought you were helping the others." He replied.

"The big blonde guy bumped into me and spilled paint on my clothes." He replied. "I had to borrow this from Theo."

RJ minimised the image on hi screen to prevent him seeing what he was working on. He had figured out from the conversation that this was Luan, not Theo who was in the back room with him. "What are you working on?"

"I'm just creating some new menus." He replied, gesturing to the other document on the screen. "I lost my computer and the originals in the fire. Anyway, sorry you lost one set of clothes, no point risking Theo's wardrobe. Lily should be going out for some groceries soon. Maybe you should tag along."

Luan wasn't entirely convinced by the response, but he had gotten a little bored of decorating and so just nodded and left the room, passing Theo on his way out.

"Hey, I needed to borrow some clothes, do you mind?" He asked.

"No problem." Theo grumbled, waving him off. Luan headed past him and back down the stairs. "Of course usually it's customary to ask BEFORE you borrow someone's clothes."

Back in the restaurant, Lily saw Luan coming down the stairs and gathered her belongings.

"Come on, let's get going." She said cheerfully, gesturing to the door. "I want to get the groceries before the stores shut."

They both left the restaurant, only a little before Theo came down the stairs, coming over to Fran.

"Hey, where's Lily?" He asked her "We were supposed to be going to the store."

Fran did a double-take between Theo and the door. She moved a little closer, sniffing his clothing.

"Theo, she just left with Luan." She replied.

"Oh great, there goes getting some fresh air." He groaned. "So what was the sniffing all about?"

"You're wearing the aftershave I gave you for your Birthday." She replied. "That's how I knew it was you."

"If it was anyone else, I'd think that's weird." Theo remarked, kissing her softly. "So what if Luan was wearing it? Would you have kissed him again?"

"I knew he wouldn't be it's so hideous that only you would wear it, and even that's to spare my feelings." She responded. "I think it's kind of sweet, but I know you Theo, I could tell you hated it."

"So, mind if I ask if you noticed a difference?" Theo asked, shrugging off her revelation about the aftershave.

"I don't follow." She replied cheekily, wrapping her arms around his waist and pulling him closer, biting her lip thoughtfully.

"You know…between me and Luan?" He asked.

"Oh there were differences." She replied, deliberately not letting him off the hook that easily.

"So who do you prefer?" He asked jokingly.

Fran drew a little closer, stopping only as her lips were a short way from hers, before pulling away and turning from him.

"If you think I'm answering that, then you're the weird one." She replied. Theo laughed, grabbing the skip of her cap and pulling it down over her eyes.

"You're going to pay for that." He teased her. "Trust me."

Back in the fortress, the masters had very little of their control left. They were only dimly aware of their own thoughts as the power of the crystal eyes continued to energise their Spirit Ranger forms.

"I want you to set them loose on Ocean Bluff." Dai Shi commanded. "I have been patient enough."

"They still have not yet completed their power transfer." Scorch warned him. "It may prove to be a costly mistake."

"Do it Scorch." He reiterated in a growl. "Send them with your creature. I want to see results."

Back in the restaurant however, RJ's research was not going as well as he'd have liked. Dominic came into the room, approaching him from behind, placing a hand on his shoulder. RJ almost jumped out of his skin as he felt the hand on his shoulder.

"Don't do that." He complained, holding a hand to his chest. "I'll have a heart attack."

"RJ, what are you looking for?" He asked. "I know you know more than you're letting on."

"It's all just theory at this point in time. I'm working on why they suddenly lost power and stooped fighting." He replied. "I'm working on a theory that may help us to defeat…"

"RJ, I've known you too long for that to wash." He interrupted. "If you thought you knew how to beat them, you'd have told us by now. What's really going on?"

RJ sighed and showed Dom the screen he was working on.

"Energy readings." Dom commented. "So what am I looking at?"

"Morphing Grid energy." He replied. "The Spirit Rangers have it."

"I would have guessed that." He replied. "So why is that a worry?"

"As you know our powers come mainly from our animal spirits." He explained. "But to harness them into Morphing Grid energy, they are bolstered by the power of our morphers."

"So what's that got to do with anything?" Dom asked him.

"The masters don't have moprhers, so that extra energy has to come from somewhere." He continued. "The way they weakened so quickly, I think I know what it is. I think the extra energy is being drawn from their own life forces."

"Which is why Phant collapsed first." Dom gasped, realising what RJ was getting at. "Being the oldest…" RJ just nodded to confirm Dom's thoughts.

"Dad being the next oldest went second, while Swoop's only a few years older than us." He continued.

"So if the power's coming from their life forces…"

"That's right Dom; the more they fight in Ranger form, the more of their life force they'll use up." He stated sadly. "If we can't stop them in time, they'll keep coming after us until their life force is completely depleted. If we can't stop them in time and they keep using those powers unchecked, they'll die."


	9. The First Phantom Beast Falls

Elsewhere in the city, Lily and Luan were making their way back to the restaurant from the store. Lily had arranged for the majority of the delivery to be delivered directly to the restaurant due to the volume of produce they were buying, taking with them only what they needed that night.

As they made their way through the streets, Lily could tell her companion was a bit bothered about something, most likely his brother. She still couldn't believe Theo had kept the fact he had a twin from her for all those years.

"You know, you don't have to worry, we don't think any less of you." She told him reassuringly, putting her one free hand around his shoulders.

"What are you talking about?" Luan asked her.

"You don't need to be jealous of your brother." She replied. "His accomplishments and his exciting stories and his music are great and all, but you've done a lot of great things too." She continued. "You just can't talk about your accomplishments in the same way Luan can."

He suddenly got a look of understanding on his face. He had changed clothes because of the paint Dom had spilled on him; she obviously thought he was Theo.

"Lily, I'm Luan." He informed her with a laugh. "I borrowed some clothes from Theo, Dom spilled paint on me."

Lily suddenly became a little breathless and turned pink as she realised her mistake.

"Luan, I…"

"I'm glad you said something." He interrupted her, understanding her embarrassment. "I had no idea Theo was jealous of me, I always got the impression I wasted my life."

"He doesn't think that, I'm sure of it." Lily reassured him. "He told me he envies you."

"I've never really had a focus." He admitted. "I just was never able to sit still for too long. I kind of have to always be doing something. I just didn't have the discipline for something like school or Kung Fu or anything like that. In a lot of ways I wished I could be more like him."

"You know, you both are more similar than you think." Lily responded. "I think if you told him that instead of trying to impress him and everyone else it would mean a lot to him."

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"Well, think about it. How do you feel when Theo talks about his accomplishments and what's important to him?" She quizzed him.

"I guess it reminds me of what I've not been able to do." He conceded. "It can feel a bit like he's rubbing my face in it."

"How do you think he feels when you drift into town and start bagging on his interests and telling him what you've been doing?" She asked him.

"I guess about the same." He sighed. "I guess I never thought about it that way."

"I have a feeling if you just talked to each other you' sort a lot of things out." She commented. "You know you…"

Her words tailed off as they were confronted by the Spirit Rangers, appearing before them ready to act. Lily was beginning to reach instinctively for her morpher before catching a glimpse of Luan out the corner of her eye. She couldn't morph in front of him, it would blow their cover, on the other hand they were in danger.

"Two will have to do for now." Swoop remarked, eyeing up Lily and Luan in disgust. "I can't believe I wasted my time teaching this guy."

"Lily, who are they?" Luan asked her, gesturing to the Rangers.

"Luan, let's get out of here!" She yelled, gesturing for him to run, before turning and following him. It was pointless to face them; trying to fight them when they had these kinds of odds in their favour would have been pointless. They turned to flee, being intercepted from the opposite direction by Dynamir, Dai Shi's latest Phantom Beast.

"Two Rangers for the price of one!" He laughed, striking them both with energy waves, which imprisoned them inside mirror tiles. Lily and Luan slammed their hands against the glass in a futile gesture, somehow hoping to break free, but finding it impossible. Dynamir came over to them, collecting the mirrors. "Only three more left."

Back in the restaurant, the alert system bleeped, informing the others of the attack on the city. Dom, Casey, and RJ rushed to the monitors, watching the replays of the attack on Lily and Luan.

"That thing's captured Lily and Theo!" Casey yelled. None of the others had realised Lily's mistake yet, they knew she'd asked Theo to help her with the groceries. "We've got to save them."

"We can't rush into this." RJ interjected. "If he can capture us in those mirrors, then we have to be cautious."

"I really wish we had some backup." Casey commented. "Is there any word on the Overdrive Rangers?"

"Unfortunately they can't help." RJ told him, placing a copy of that day's newspaper in front of them. "Until the trial they're under house arrest at Dr. Hartford's estate. The court considered them a flight risk."

"Well can't he even offer us some technical support?" Dom asked him.

"Unfortunately part of their bail conditions is the confiscation of the Overdrive trackers and the sealing of Dr. Hartford's lab." He explained. "They couldn't help us if they wanted to."

"Guys, I'm just going out for a little while." Fran told them, putting away her cell phone. "I have a little errand to run."

"Fran, there's a monster attacking the city." RJ explained.

"That and the Spirit Rangers are back." Casey informed her.

"We need you here." RJ told her. "We'll be back soon."

With that, they grabbed their vines and rushed from the back room before Fran could say another word.

"What about Theo?" She asked.

Back in Ocean Bluff, the three Rangers arrived to find Dynamir and the Spirit Rangers awaiting them. Dynawir held up the two mirrors for the others to see.

"We already have two of your friends." He reminded them. "Do you want to surrender now? Or should I let the Rangers have another round with you?"

"We have no intention of giving up." Casey yelled in response, powering up into Jungle Master Mode. "Bring it on!"

With that, the three Spirit Rangers rushed to the attack, falling upon the Rangers as Dynawir stood awaiting the result.

In a nearby train station, Fran looked around nervously, hoping not to run into any trouble. It probably wasn't wise to run this errand alone, but she knew that it was important. Making her way over to the lockers, she pulled a key from her coat pocket and opened one of the lockers.

She found the package there, just as she knew it would be. Shoving it inside her jacket, she headed back towards the restaurant. She hated being so secretive, especially with her friends, but she knew that this was one secret she'd have to keep for the time being. The only thing that could keep her going was the thought of how her friends would react when they found out what she was up to, especially Theo.

Meanwhile in the restaurant, Theo was getting a little tired of operating the nail gun and opted to take a rest. Pulling off his ear protectors, it was only then that he noticed his morpher bleeping, indicating that the automated defence system was contacting him. He made his way upstairs and watched in amazement as he saw the battle unfolding. Dynamir had already captured RJ and Casey in addition to Lily and Luan, leaving Dom to bravely battle alone against the Spirit Rangers and Dynamir, though he was already coming under pressure.

Realising it wouldn't be long before Dom also fell into their clutches, he rushed from the restaurant.

"Fran, Camille, the guys need me!" He called out as he headed through the main restaurant, though he stopped short as he noticed something odd. Neither of them were there, the restaurant was completely empty.

"Guys?" He asked weakly. As his morpher bleeped again, he decided it was a mystery that would have to wait and left the restaurant, locking up as he went.

Dai Shi watched the battle unfolding, chuckling in satisfaction as the Spirit Rangers smashed Dominic to the ground, de-morphing him.

"Recall the Spirit Rangers." He commanded. "Scorch, now you can have them for as long as you wish to absorb the power of the eyes. Dynamir can handle them now."

Scorch recalled the spirit Rangers, powering them down as they arrived back in the throne room. Rinshi warriors pounced on them, shackling them together before they could regain their composure.

"So how does it feel to know that you were instrumental in my victory over the Pai Zhuq?" He taunted them. "The last of the Rangers is about to fall, and it's all thanks to you."

"There are still those who would oppose you Dai Shi." Finn snarled. "When we get out of here..."

"You will be my loyal servants." He interrupted. "Now there is no need for you to battle the Rangers, you'll be going back to your cell to absorb the last of the energies from the eyes. Once you do, you will be mine to control forever."

With that, he gestured to Scorch to take them away. He dragged the protesting masters through the corridors back towards the cell, though he stopped a little way down the hall and began looking around suspiciously. He couldn't help getting the feeling that he was being watched.

Seeing no one around, he dismissed the notion as mere paranoia and dragged the masters back to their cell, shackling them to the wall and left them to absorb the energy of the eyes. Locking the door, he observed them with a sense of satisfaction. His plan had worked far better than he could have hoped for. He hung the key up on a hook near the door and headed back to the throne room to watch the end of the battle. He once again got the feeling someone was watching him, but he still couldn't find anybody.

He decided that he was just being overly cautious and made his way back to the throne room. Now that the Rangers had been taken care of, he could concentrate on his new project.

Back in the city, Dynamir had only just finished capturing Dominic within a mirror tile when the Theo arrived. Without warning, he attacked in a fury with his Claw Booster, never letting up or giving him a chance to gather composure.

"What? I thought I'd captured you already!" He remarked as he rolled away from his furious assault.

"Release the others, NOW!" He roared as he readied himself to renew the attack.

"You have no power to threaten me Ranger." He sneered in response, holding up the mirror tiles. "Your friends can't help you now; you are on your own."

With that, an energy connected with his hand, shattering the mirror tiles and releasing the prisoners.

"What the hell happened?" Lily asked, looking around for their mystery saviour. "Who set us free?"

"We can worry about that later. Luan, step aside, we'll explain later." RJ called out. "Ready guys?"

"Jungle Beast, Spirit Unleashed!" They chorused together.

Back in the fortress, Dai Shi was less than amused as he watched his almost certain victory unravelling before his eyes.

"I thought you said the Blue Ranger was already captured." He screamed at the Avalonian Dragon. "What happened?"

"I have no idea my lord." He responded truthfully.

Dai Shi felt the anger rising in him as they watched the Rangers defeat the first of the Phantom Beasts, destroying Dynamir utterly with their Zords. He watched them gathering on the screen and powering down as Luan ran into view. Seeing Luan and Theo together, he realised what had happened.

"Your creature's arrogance had been its undoing." He sneered, failing to take any responsibility whatsoever for recalling the Spirit Rangers and leaving his monster undefended. "He took the Rangers lightly and it has cost us a fantastic opportunity at victory."

"Of course my lord, I apologise for his failure." He responded, restraining himself from taking out his frustrations on Dai Shi. He was still needed to assist in destroying the Rangers, so he knew he would have to tolerate him a little while longer at least.

The guys arrived back at the restaurant, finding Fran and Camille inside, applying wood stain to the booths.

"Where did you get to?" Theo asked, seeing them working. "When I left you were nowhere around."

"We ran out of wood stain, we had to go to the hardware store." Fran answered, holding up the tin. "You didn't hear us because of your ear protectors."

"Oh, right you said you were running an errand." RJ responded, remembering their earlier conversation. "I told you it was dangerous to go out, but I'm glad you got back safely."

"Anyway, Theo, you're a Power Ranger?" Luan exclaimed. "That's awesome, to think I used to rag on you for being boring."

"It's alright; I suppose I've been a bit dismissive of your pastimes too." He replied. "I guess just because you're different doesn't make what matters to you any less valid."

"What made you think that?" Luan asked, looking over to Lily who seemed to be trying hard not to smile as he almost quoted exactly what she'd told Luan.

"When I found out you'd been captured I realised that the one thing we both care about is each other." He responded. "That's where we're both really alike, and that's all that matters."

"I'm glad to hear that, I'm proud of you little brother." He told him, pulling him into a warm hug.

"You know I am only nine and a half minutes younger than you." He reminded him. "I guess we've got a bit of catching up to do."

"Yeah, that's going to have to wait." Luan told him. "I've been thinking about it and I figure what you're doing here is too important to get sidetracked. I'll be leaving tomorrow."

"But you just got here." Theo complained. "Why are you going?"

"Look, I'm no Ranger, and I'll only hold you back." He explained. "Now that Dai Shi knows about me, I'll be a target, and I won't be able to defend myself against him."

"But Luan..."

"I'll be a distraction you can do without." He interrupted. "I'll come back and we can catch up properly once this is all over, but right now, I'm a weakness he can exploit and you know it."

Theo wanted to protest, but he had to admit that Luan had a point. Regretfully he hugged his brother again.

"I love you bro, I'm proud of you." Theo told him. "Promise you won't be a stranger."

"I won't." He replied. "Besides, I have a wedding to attend at least."

"You can expect an invitation in the mail." RJ interjected. "Now, in the meantime, there's one thing I'd like to know. Who did help Theo smash those mirrors?"

"I never saw anyone, only an energy blast." Theo replied.

"I never saw anyone either." Lily told him.

"Well it's good to know someone has our backs." RJ stated. "I just wish I knew who, and for what purpose."

Back in the fortress, Scorch went to the masters' cell to check on them, finding the door lying wide open. He rushed inside; finding the masters still shackled to the wall and breathed a sigh of relief. He didn't keep the keys to their restraints along with the keys to the cell, and that was the only reason all was not lost. He looked around in horror, noticing that the eyes were gone.

"Who did this?" He roared. "Tell me!"

"Well I didn't see anything." Swoop chuckled at the general's misfortune. He strode over, kicking him hard in the side of the head.

"You shark master, what happened?" He demanded.

"I didn't see anything either." He replied. "You can control my mind if you like, but I will always give you the same answer. I literally saw nothing. One minute they were there, the next they were gone."

"Dai Shi cannot know of this failure." He mused, realising his position. "I can only hope the energy you've already absorbed will be enough."

Watching him go, locking the door as he went, Finn reached out with his mind, hoping to reach his son.

It was late in the night; RJ was meditating in the back room, when he heard his dad's voice in his mind.

"RJ, you must help us. They will send us against the Rangers again soon." He told him.

"Dad, you're still there?" He asked.

"Dai Shi in his impatience did not wait for us to absorb the full energies of the eyes." He replied. "He can control us, and we still have power remaining. We are still a threat. You must not let us destroy the Rangers."

"Someone stole the eyes?" He asked. "Who?"

Unfortunately by now Finn's mental energy was spent, and he could no longer connect. RJ found himself with more questions than answers.

The next day, the Rangers assembled to bid farewell to Luan as he gathered his belongings.

"I promise I'll stay in touch this time." He told them. "There's a dive spot off the coast of Blue Bay Harbour I want to check out."

"I'll write to you all the time." Theo promised, hugging him. "I'll see you again soon, I know it."

As he turned to leave, they saw a FedEx courier arriving at the door.

"Hey, great timing." He commented, handing a package to RJ. "Sign here please?"

RJ furrowed his brows and signed the docket, sending the courier on his way. He opened the packet and almost collapsed as he saw what was inside.

"RJ, what's wrong?" Lily asked as he charged up to the back room. The others followed him, arriving in time to see him throwing open the door to the safe. He pulled out the five crystal eyes and set them down on the table.

"What's going on?" She reiterated the question. RJ just wordlessly tipped the contents of the packet onto the table, causing the Rangers to recoil as they saw the remaining three fall onto the table, taking their place with their brothers.

"We have them all guys." RJ told them. "Someone stole the eyes and sent them to us."

"Who?" Theo asked him.

"I don't know." RJ replied, showing him the packet. "The sender's a PO box."

"So why would anyone steal the eyes if they didn't intend to use them?" Casey asked.

"More importantly, who could?" RJ asked.


	10. The Mystery Warrior

This is just a little filler chapter of my own devising to move the story along while I wait for the next episode. I hope you like it.

Lily awoke the next morning, rolling over and finding that her arm did not find the warmth of the man she intended to marry. She opened her eyes to find the other side of the bed empty and looked around, finding no sign of him other than a sliver of light under the en-suite door. She went inside to find him staring at himself in the mirror.

"You're still thinking about him, aren't you?" She asked him, wrapping her arms around his abdomen and resting her head against his back. "I can't imagine how much this hurts. I don't think..."

"I know you miss Phant too." He interrupted her. She squeezed him hard, causing him to wince slightly before turning him to face her.

"RJ, it's not the same and you know it!" She stated with authority. "Phant's a good friend of mine, I miss him more than I can say, but it isn't the same. Master Finn is your dad."

I've lived this long without him." He told her. "Look, my feelings are no threat to the team..."

"The team can be damned." She snapped. "RJ, it doesn't matter how much you rationalise this, he's your dad. You wouldn't be human if the thought of hurting him didn't bother you. I know this is hurting you."

"I just want to know he'll be alright." RJ replied sadly, placing a hand on hers, stroking it gently with his other. "I really want them all to get out of this safely."

"You know they will." Lily told him, pulling him into another soft hug. "Please RJ, you have to trust us, you know we'll go easy..."

He cut her off by shoving her away a little too briskly as the thoughts came to him again. He knew they cared about the masters, and he knew they didn't want to hurt them, but his research had led him to a conclusion, one that was unlikely to be comfortable for any of them. Lily looked at him with the hurt evident in her eyes.

"RJ, what's going on?" She asked him.

RJ turned from her, unable to look her in the face as pondered his position. He wanted to see the masters hurt as little as the others, but so far he'd kept his suspicions from all of them other than Dominic. He longed to find a way around the situation, but so far taking them on head-on seemed to be the only way. Lily grabbed him, spinning him around before roughly forcing him against the wall. By now the anger in her was obvious.

"I'm not a kid RJ, I'm your fiancée!" She roared, getting into his face. "I know when something's wrong with you, you're hiding something, I know it. You're hiding something and I want you to tell me what it is, NOW!"

RJ turned his face from her, only for her to grab it and pull it back to face him. Now her face was no longer one of anger, but one of hurt. Tears were already forming as she beheld him.

"RJ, I need to be with you at times like this." She told him truthfully. "If you can't talk to me when times are hard, then you obviously aren't ready to marry me."

"Lily, I love you more than anything, you know that." He replied. "Why else would I have put Fran in danger when they were threatening..."

"Damn it RJ, that's not the point." She interrupted him. "If you don't think you can share anything with me, then maybe it isn't the right time for us."

"Lily, please don't do this." RJ implored her, seeing her reach to her left hand and beginning to twist off her engagement ring. He placed a hand on hers to stop her. "Lily, I'll tell you, but it isn't going to be easy to hear."

Lily sat down on the bed awaiting an explanation she so far couldn't think of.

"You and I can morph because of our morphers. You already know that, right?" He asked. Lily nodded to confirm this. "Most of the power comes from our animal spirits, but the rest comes from our morphers."

"RJ what are you saying?" She asked.

"They don't have morphers, so the remaining energy comes from another source." He paused, holding her hands in his own as he prepared to explain. "The remaining energy comes from their life force."

"You mean..."

"Yes Lily, every time they fight in Ranger form, they deplete their life energy." He told her. "If they completely deplete that, then they'll die."

"RJ, I'm so sorry!" She whimpered, throwing herself into a passionate hug with him, comforting him over the potential loss of his father.

"Lily, I know I can never ask any of you to hurt them." He told her.

"RJ, I'd rather hurt Master Phant than lose him altogether." She responded. "I owe it to him, I owe it to Gabby, but more than anything I owe it to myself. I know I'd never be able to live with myself if I didn't do all I could to save him."

"Lily, you know what happened the last time." RJ reminded her. "We may find another..."

"RJ, we need to save them before it's too late." She interrupted him. "I don't want to hurt Master Phant, but if that's what I have to do to save him I will. I know the others will feel the same way. We can't afford to go easy on them anymore."

"Lily, it isn't going to be easy on any of us..."

"RJ, we'll do what we need to." She told him. "It's the right thing to do, we can't go easy on them, and it won't do them any good. We'll help them even if we do have to risk destroying them ourselves; you need to do it for their sake. You need to do it for your dad."

"I don't think I could bear it if I lost him now." RJ told her softly. "He's my dad and I love him. I can't let him down."

"You won't RJ." Lily responded, hugging him tightly for comfort. "He loves you, he's proud of you, any father would be."

"What about your own dad?" He asked her, changing the subject. "Have you told him yet?"

Lily sank onto the bed, the air taken from her sails as he asked this. It was something of a cheap shot for RJ; he knew she didn't have much contact with her father.

"I sent him a letter telling him about the engagement about a month ago." She told him. "I still haven't heard anything back."

RJ sat on the bed next to her, placing an arm around her regretfully. He knew he'd stooped to a major cheap shot to get pressure off himself. He held her closely, kissing the top of her head.

"I'm sorry Lily, I shouldn't have asked." He replied softly. "I know you're having a hard time with that."

"I'm alright RJ." She whispered softly. "I'm used to it."

"No you're not." He replied. "No one ever gets used to being so cut off from their parents."

"He dumped me in a boarding school he'd never even heard of before I was 14." She snapped. "In the last year I've received three letters from him, that's it."

"I went a long time without even that much from my dad." He replied. "Sometimes families grow better away from each other."

Lily pulled open a drawer, pulling out some letters and threw a 'get well soon' card on the bed.

"That was one of only three letters I've received from him this year!" She snapped. "I got that when I'd called him to tell him about my accident. I told him I might be blind for the rest of my life and all he can do is send me a god damned greeting card I couldn't even read!"

She threw it across the room and tried hard not to succumb to her tears.

"Most dads hearing their daughters were getting married would at least want to meet the boyfriend." She muttered. "I suppose it's too much to hope for he'll ask you if your intentions are honourable."

"Lily, you know..."

"Damn it RJ, I know they are." She roared. "It would just be nice to know my dad gives a damn!"

RJ took this as the sign he needed. He couldn't possibly ask Lily to patch things up with her dad and not sort out his own house.

"I guess you'll be the master in our relationship." He told her. "I'll tell the others on one condition."

"You're not really in a position..."

"Humour me." RJ implored her. She shrugged and settled down to listen. "I want to meet your dad and for him to be there at the wedding."

"It won't be easy." Lily told him. "But if that's what it takes, I promise that I'll call him again."

"Life's too short to lose contact with your parents." RJ told her. "Take it from someone who knows."

"RJ, we need to save them." Lily told him. "If that means we have to fight them, then we will. But the others have a right to know how far they night have to go."

He smiled as he wrapped his arms around her, kissing her cheek. With that they held each other and passed the time until the morning training session where they would brief the others properly. If they were going to save the masters, they'd have to give them everything they had, regardless of the circumstances.

In the morning, the other Rangers assembled in the back room for the morning training session, only to find themselves being sat down for a serious talk. RJ explained the situation about the Master's powers to their collective shock and doubts. None of them wanted to hurt the masters, only to stop them. Of course it now became evident only one course of action was possible.

"We go at it full tilt." Casey instructed, swinging a nunchaka to emphasise the point. "If it's a choice between getting them back hurt and getting them back dead I know what I'm choosing."

"Fine." Theo sighed regretfully.

"I'm in." Dominic reiterated in a defeated manner. "We need to save them from themselves."

Just then, the alarms bleeped, drawing their attention to the monitors. Once again the Spirit Rangers and Sonimax were attacking the city. They rushed out, preparing for the battle ahead.

A few minutes into the battle, the Claw Cannon had seen Sonimax turning tail, though obviously Dai Shi saw fit to leave the Spirit Rangers for a while. Lily once again was 

battling Phant with her Jungle Mace, Casey and RJ were trading blows with Master Finn, while Theo and Dom were taking care of Swoop. Things were looking like they were heading south quickly for the Rangers. Lily was struggling one-on-one with her friend.

"Goodnight Lily." He sneered, rearing up his mace ready for the strike. "I guess you die always the bridesmaid..."

He was interrupted as an orange streak came down into the alley, smashing his mace aside and knocking him down. Lily looked up, catching only a glance of her saviour in the shadows as Phant de-morphed. The mysterious warrior surged forth, slamming a savage kick into his right hip, sprawling him on the ground. The stranger then surged over to Swoop, firing an energy blast inches behind his head, causing him to collapse, holding the sides of his head in pain as he was deafened by the noise. Then the stranger blurred out of sight. All any of them ever saw was a blur of orange light, hardly a glimpse of their saviour.

"You never were worthy of being my son!" Finn roared, levelling a sabre at RJ. He grabbed the others before teleporting away.

"What the hell happened?" Casey asked. "Who was that?"

"I don't know." RJ told them, looking around for the mystery saviour. "I think all we can do is be glad they're on our side."

"That and hope it stays that way." Theo stated as rain began to fall, drenching them all. "I really could do with fewer enemies, not more."

Lily made her way towards something curious on the street, it was a scroll.

"Do not fight an enemy on their terms; always force them to fight on yours." She read from the scroll.

"It's from Sun Tzu's the art of war." Theo explained. "What does it mean?"

"Hopefully all will become clear soon." RJ stated. "Until then, let's go home."

Somewhere on a rooftop above them, a mysterious figure awaited their departure, before setting up the communications relay as instructed.

"They got the message." The electronically distorted voice announced. "It's up to them now."

"You're not having doubts now are you?" The distorted voice on the other end asked. "They need help..."

"I know we have to keep this under wraps." The saviour asked. "My partner does too. Just don't expect us to like it..."

"It will all be worth it in the end." The boss replied. "You know you can't intervene directly. You weren't seen were you?"

"Not directly, or for long enough." The saviour replied. "This better pan out soon, I really don't feel good about handling things like this."

"Just let them perform business as usual." The boss stated. "You and your partner will get your time in the sunshine soon, I know it."

"It isn't about that and you know it!" The mysterious warrior snapped. "Just hope everything goes well."

"Just keep your heads down and all will be fine." The boss reiterated. "Your partner has already gotten the eyes safely to the Rangers, so all is going as smoothly as it can. Now all they need to do is rescue the masters. Keep up the good work."

"I will." The warrior reiterated. "Just don't expect me to like it."

With that the warrior killed the communication and left the scene. Things were going as well as could be expected under the circumstances, but they were quickly running out of time. They needed to step things up a gear and they needed to do it soon.

Back in the back room, the Rangers were gathered around trying to figure out what the mysterious warrior wanted from them, and what the message meant. Lily was carefully examining the footage of their previous battles with the masters, trying to find some weakness in their style as the others discussed strategy.

"Lily, there's no point beating yourself up over this." Theo told her, placing a hand on her shoulder and trying to turn her away from the footage. "If there was some weakness in their style we'd have seen it by now..."

"Theo, you're a genius!" She shrieked, kissing him on the cheek enthusiastically.

"You know a girl could get jealous." Fran giggled as she arrived in the room with their dinner.

"What did I say?" Theo asked her.

"There IS now weakness in their style!" She announced.

"I'm still not following you." Dominic commented. "How's that a good thing?"

Lily played a little more of the footage, pausing the frame as Phant caught her with a savage blow. "He never taught me that technique."

"But he taught you everything you know about the elephant technique." Casey remarked. "Just like Master Finn taught me everything I know about the shark technique."

"And Swoop did the same with me and the bat technique." Theo chipped in. Lily rolled her eyes at them as they failed to grasp what she was getting at.

"Exactly, they taught us everything WE know." She reiterated. "But did they teach us everything THEY know? I doubt it."

"So what's your suggestion?" Casey asked.

"The reason they've been beating us is because we've tried to fight them using the techniques THEY trained us in." She told them. "They're masters in their chosen techniques, we're not. We were always going to lose trying to match them with their own styles."

"So what do you suggest?" Theo asked. Lily grabbed a tonfa from the weapons rack and threw it to him.

"I suggest we master our OWN techniques." She stated with authority, picking up a bo staff. "Shall we begin?"

"I guess I'm eating alone then." Fran commented. "I'll leave some for you to reheat." With that, she left the room to let them train in peace without the smell of fresh pasta distracting them. She knew they'd be training for quite a while, so she left them to it. She smiled as she left the room, she had a feeling they might be on the right path to a solution to their problems with the masters. Arriving in the restaurant, she sat down in a booth and began eating.

"My new pasta sauce recipe is pretty good." She commented. "Maybe I should suggest to RJ we try it in the restaurant when we re-open."


	11. Freeing the Masters

While Lily, Casey and Theo trained in their respective techniques, RJ began working on the Claw Cannon. He had a theory as to how they could circumvent the power the Spirit Rangers wielded. He had to feel a certain pride in their determination to master their own techniques to bring down the Spirit Rangers before the Masters exhausted their life force, but he had a feeling that they needed a plan B just to be on the safe side.

Of course his new plan was a lot riskier than he was comfortable with. He was recalibrating the Ranger's Claw Cannon to the spirits of the Bat, Elephant and Shark, though not for charging. He tried hard to concentrate as he continued his work. If his theory was right, it would indeed affect the energies of their animal spirits, though he also knew how dangerous that was. Potentially he would also destroy the masters in the process.

"What are you working on?" Fran asked him, sitting beside him and placing down the grilled chicken BLT he'd asked for. "You've been at it almost all night. Even the others managed to get some sleep last night."

RJ looked to the window, realising that sunlight was indeed streaming through the glass.

"I was sure it was dark." He commented, handing her his cup for a re-fill of coffee.

"It was." Fran told him, taking the cup. "You've been working on this for fifteen hours."

"No wonder I'm so wired." He remarked, leaning back in his chair and running his fingers through his hair, pulling it out of his face.

"What's taking so long?" Fran asked him.

"I had to run schematics and second-guess myself every step of the way." He told her, gesturing to his laptop as he took a huge bite out of his sandwich. "I only finished the schematics...some time it was still dark."

"The clock on your document save log says it auto-saved at 4AM." Fran commented. "RJ, that was six hours ago."

"Well I have all the computer work out of the way." He replied through a huge mouthful of sandwich. "The electrics are just taking longer than expected."

"Well maybe lying down for a few hours would help you refresh your brain and get on with it faster." She suggested. "Mind if I check my E-mail?"

"No problem, just don't mess up my files." RJ told her, picking up a tool and getting back to work. Fran looked at him a little dismissively; of course she wouldn't delete any of his work.

"Just get some rest before you mess anything up yourself." She grumbled.

"What makes you say that?" He asked.

"Well you know that soldering iron you're trying to use to attach the wires to the circuit board?" She asked. RJ nodded. "It's actually a screwdriver."

RJ looked at the Philip's head screwdriver in his hand and muttered something under his breath.

"It'll still be here in a couple of hours." She told him, finishing what she was doing. "I promise not to let you sleep too long; there'll be a fresh cup of coffee when you get up."

"Fine, but only let me sleep two hours, I mean it Fran." He replied. "As long as the Spirit Rangers are out there, I doubt any of us are going to have much to smile about."

Fran watched him go, figuring it was best not to waste his sandwich and finished it herself. It was a good sandwich.

Back in Dai Shi's fortress, he summoned Scorch to power up the Spirit rangers again. He had no idea how it was even possible for someone to enter the fortress undetected, never mind steal the eyes. All he knew was that for the time being he had to keep that detail from Dai Shi.

He knew if Dai Shi found out the eyes had been stolen, it would only make him look weak in front of the others, an eventuality that he could not allow to happen. What he needed was a scapegoat, someone else who could carry the responsibility for losing their power, and with it the power of the Rangers. For now all he could hope was that they had already absorbed enough power from the eyes to take down the Rangers. He could worry about other matters later.

"Power up the Spirit Rangers." Dai Shi commanded him. "I hope for your sake they fare better than last time."

"May I suggest sending Unidoom for support?" He suggested. "He possesses the spirit of the unicorn. Between the magical power of his animal spirit and his Rinzin power, he should easily overmatch the Rangers."

"Just tell me when it's done." Dai Shi sneered as he waved the general away.

"May I also suggest that I give him the eyes?" He continued. "With them at his command, the Spirit Ranger's powers will last far longer than they'll ever need to destroy the Rangers."

"Just do it." Dai Shi snapped. "And don't fail."

Scorch made his way in search of Unidoom, already forming the plan. If Unidoom and the Spirit Rangers succeeded, he would have ample time to find all the eyes. Of course he would have to suffer a nasty accident to prevent him from revealing the truth to Dai Shi.

That said if he failed, then Scorch would not have to explain the loss of the eyes. He would be able to pin it all on Unidoom. On the whole, things could be worse. He had ensured his position was safe. Now he had ample time to concentrate on other matters.

Back in the Restaurant, RJ woke up, making his way into the main room, finding only Fran sitting there, watching television.

"You said you'd wake me in two hours." RJ reprimanded her softly. "I've been asleep almost three."

"Well it's not like you didn't need it." She replied.

"Where are the others?" He asked.

"Lily, Theo and Casey are downstairs moving furniture." She began. "Dom went into town, and Camille went to get herself some buttermilk."

"Ughhhh. I don't know how she can drink that stuff." RJ remarked. "Why didn't she just ask for some with the groceries?"

"She's the only one that drinks it, so she figured it's only fair she buys it from her own pocket." Fran explained. "I'm in full agreement though, she can keep that stuff."

"Well if you don't mind, I'm off to do some fine tuning on the Claw Cannon." He told her. "Preferably BEFORE Dai Shi attacks again."

"Just let me know if there's anything I can do." Fran told him.

Elsewhere in the city, a mysterious figure took up position out of sight and set up the communications relay to the boss.

"You got the schematics?" The electronically distorted voice asked.

"As I suspected, the design and the ploy requires minor adjustments." The boss replied. "I've sent the beginning of the schematics for the power filter to your helmet visors. You'll need the eight crystal eyes though."

"That'll not be easy to do without attracting attention." The warrior told him.

"You've both been doing well up until now." The boss replied. "It won't be much longer."

"My partner isn't going to like this." The warrior responded. "We'll set up the filter as you designed. I hope this works."

"So do I." The boss replied, cutting off the communications link. The warrior opened communications.

"We need the eyes." The warrior explained to the other.

"I understand." The partner replied. "I'll get them."

Dominic arrived back at JKP with a variety of large drink cups, having returned from his smoothie run to the local health food takeaway. He'd accidentally dropped theirs while helping renovations, so needless to say it was his job to do the drinks run.

"Who's double banana?" He asked holding up the first.

"Mine!" Lily called out, moving over and collecting her drink.

"Vanilla…" He was interrupted as the morphers bleeped, indicating trouble in the city. They left their smoothies and headed into the surveillance area, finding RJ already there.

"They have a unicorn phantom?" Casey asked.

"It looks like it." RJ sighed. "They've got the phantoms with them."

"It looks like we get to try out our theory of using our own styles after all." Casey stated with authority. Guys, let's go."

"I'll be along shortly." RJ told them. "I just need to work the last of the bugs out of the Claw Cannon, it shouldn't take long."

With that, the Rangers headed off to face the enemy. RJ headed into his room, hearing a strange sound as he approached the door. Throwing it open, inside he found what appeared to be a Power Ranger. The mysterious Ranger was wearing a costume much like the others, though its markings were slightly different. The face guard around the nose and mouth area were white, as was a broad stripe running the length of the chest, though the rest of the costume was a bright, burning orange. The skirt on the costume and the build of the Ranger informed him that whoever it was, it was a woman. He looked behind her, seeing his safe lying open, and the canvas sack containing the crystal eyes was hanging across her shoulder.

"I don't know who you are, but you are not going any were with those." He stated bluntly, preparing a guard.

"You'll thank me when we help you save the masters." The Orange Ranger replied in an electronically distorted voice. RJ furrowed his brows as he tried to think if there was anything familiar about her. She had used his name, and she said she was going to help.

"My friends don't break into my property and steal what belongs to me." He responded. Seeing the situation was going south, the Orange Ranger called forth a pair of tonfa, powering them up and smashing him to the ground before sprinting from the restaurant, leaving RJ far behind. He marvelled at her incredible speed, she was barely visible as she left, only an orange streak. He reasoned that she was the one who had helped them earlier.

"Who is she?" He asked himself. "And what did she want with the eyes?"

The others arrived in the middle of town, finding the Spirit Rangers and Unidoom waiting for them.

"Are you ready to b destroyed?" Unidoom asked them. "Only four of you? Well, we can always look for your friend later."

"Master Phant, I'll save you, I promise," Lily roared, surging to the attack with her Jungle Bo, "even if I have to hurt you to do it."

"Are you ready for another lesson in the Jungle Fan?" Swoop sneered, calling forth his own weapon. "I'd have thought you'd be sick of losing."

"I am." He replied, calling out his tonfa. "That's why I'm trying something different."

"One more time Casey?" Finn snarled, rushing him with his sabres. Casey dashed the first strike aside with his Junglechuks.

"You've got it!" He replied.

"I guess that leaves us." Dom stated as he switched the Rhino Morpher to blade mode. "I always wanted a unicorn."

RJ finished making the last of the adjustments to the specifications on his computer, and closed up the shell of the Claw Cannon. He had wanted to go after the mystery thief, but he knew the Rangers needed him more. He still had no idea how his plan would work, he only knew that it would help as a last resort. He heard his morpher bleeping, answering the communication.

"RJ, we're taking a pounding." Casey told him. "Is that plan B ready?"

"I'll be right over." He replied, observing the monitor. "Can you hold out till I get there?"

"We'll try." Casey told him. But I don't know how…"

He was cut off as a Ranger clad in a green outfit came seemingly from nowhere, catching their opponents unawares. They watched her fight in wonder.

Her costume was completely green, save for some spines running up the length of her back, though again her skirt and her build gave away that it was a woman in the costume. Powering up a pair of daggers, she blasted Unidoom from his feet.

"Who are you?" Theo asked her.

"A gift horse." The Green Ranger replied in a distorted voice. "Now get up and carry on, I'll help until the Wolf Ranger gets here."

RJ arrived to find them already beginning to fight back. He threw himself into the fray, joining Dominic in tackling the Phantom Beast General as the Rangers continued to battle their respective masters.

"Guys, call the Claw Cannon!" RJ instructed them. "Funnel them into on area and blast them."

"But we might destroy them!" Lily shrieked as she disarmed the Elephant Ranger with her bo.

"We don't have a choice Lily, if we don't stop them, they'll be lost anyway." He replied. "Now call the Claw Cannon."

"We'll hold them in place." Another voice called out, heralding the arrival of the Orange Ranger on the scene. She took her place alongside her partner, battling the three Spirit Rangers. "We can't hold them long, charge it and fire!"

"But…"

"Casey, just do it!" She roared.

"You took your time." The Green Ranger said quietly as they struggled against the combined skills of the masters.

"RJ accelerated our plans." The Orange Ranger replied. "I wasn't able to complete the power filter."

"So we've failed." The Green Ranger replied as she saw the Rangers powering up the Claw Cannon.

"Not quite, I've got an idea." The Orange Ranger replied. "This is going to hurt!"

The Rangers looked to RJ reluctantly as the Claw Cannon finally charged to full power. He nodded morosely, indicating that now was their best chance. Casey fired off the blast with a little regret.

Suddely, the feeling of panic rose as the Orange Ranger threw herself into the path of the beam, holding a strange device to her chest. The energy blast struck the device, and her, filtering through them into a brilliant white beam which smashed the Masters to the ground and out of their Ranger forms. The Orange Ranger though was thrown through the air out of view, de-morphing as she went, landing amid some rubble, out of sight. The Green Ranger rushed off in her direction, leaving the Rangers to it.

"You still have all of US to deal with." Unidoom replied, calling forth dozens of Rinshi warriors. "Spirit Rangers or no, you will fall to my Rinzin power!"

"You can have all the power in the world; you'll still never defeat us!" Casey called out, rushing to the attack.

RJ ran over to where his Dad was beginning to haul himself off the ground.

"Dad, are you alright?" He asked him, a note of concern in his voice. He looked down at the shattered device the Orange Ranger had been carrying, seeing the eight crystal eyes inside. As he picked one up, he didn't feel the same sense of foreboding he had before.

"I'm fine RJ." Finn replied. "In fact, I'm better than fine. I'm free of their control."

"Well leave it to us from here." He replied. "We'll deal with…"

"The odds don't look good." He interrupted, pulling himself to his feet. "Swoop, how are you holding up?"

"Ready for some payback?" He replied. "How about you Phant?"

"Alive and kicking." He responded. Somehow, they all seemed to know what to do, standing in unity. Calling forth the power imbued to them by the eyes, they powered back up into Spirit Ranger form.

"Not again!" Casey groaned, seeing them as he attacked several Rinshi. "We can't…"

"You won't have to." Swoop interrupted. "This time we're in control of the power."

Dai Shi arrived on the scene, watching the last of the battle. As he saw the Spirit Rangers turn on his monster, he sneered in disgust.

"That incompetent fool." He snorted. "Scorch has only succeeded in making the Rangers stronger."

He looked over to the fallen body of the Orange Ranger, strewn across some rubble. In her civilian form he recognised her instantly.

"So you have been the ones to bring about this catastrophe." He remarked, seeing the Green Ranger collect her friend's unconscious body and leave the area out of view of the Rangers. Knowing who the Orange Ranger was, he could guess who the Green Ranger was. "If you choose to stand against me, you will learn the consequences."

With that, he disappeared, leaving Unidoom to his fate as the assembled Rangers defeated their foes with relative ease, their combined powers overwhelming them completely.

Later, back in the apartment, The Rangers celebrated their victory, welcoming back the masters.

"Thank you for saving us." Phant said gratefully.

"I had to do it." Lily told him. "I promised Gabby I would."

"So what of the Spirit Rangers?" Theo asked. Why were they able to call on their powers?"

"Well preliminary tests show that somehow the eyes filtered the power of the Claw Cannon." RJ explained. "The Cannon's blast destroyed the evil energies in the eyes and transferred their power into the Masters."

"So they can become the Spirit Rangers at any time." Theo surmised.

"Yes…and no." RJ responded. "The powers are still connected to their life force."

"So it's still dangerous to use their powers." Lily remarked.

"We aren't afraid." Finn announced. "To destroy Dai Shi we'll gladly use those powers."

"Because this time the power was granted by ALL EIGHT eyes instead of three, the powers are no longer life threatening, but they can only be accessed for short periods." He continued to explain. "It's best your powers are only called on sparingly as a last resort."

"Well, you can always count on the Spirit Rangers to have your back." Swoop told them with a smile. "We'll bring down Dai Shi together."

As they continued to celebrate, Theo crossed the room to where Fran was sitting.

"What's with the sweater?" He asked her, gesturing to her long-sleeved garment.

"I think I'm coming down with something." She replied. "I thought I'd burn it out early."

"Do you feel healthy enough to go for a walk?" He asked her. "I'd like to talk to you about something."

"I'd like that." She replied with a bright smile, gathering her coat. "Lead the way."

Theo took her hand in his, feeling the warmth of her touch cause that same tingle it always did when he touched her. He loved her more than anything, and the last few days had shown him how quickly things could change for the worst. He knew he was making the right choice to spend this time with her.

Back in the fortress, Dai Shi called the Generals before him. His expression said all that needed to be said in the circumstances.

"Your incompetence has only given the Rangers more strength." He barked aggressively. "I asked you to prove your loyalty and THIS is what I get?"

"Give us another test." Snapper stated. "We will prove our loyalty."

"I have a special assignment for you Snapper." He responded with an evil grin. "Now, pay attention."

Theo took Fran along the riverside on their walk. They always enjoyed this part of the city at night. As the moon rose, it reflected off the softly rippling waves of the river's lazy tide.

"You said you wanted t talk about something." Fran said, reminding Theo that it had now been several minutes since they'd left, and he hadn't said a word.

"Fran, I wanted to talk about us." He began. "I wanted to talk about where we're going."

"Theo, I already agreed to move into…"

"I want more than that Fran." He interrupted her. Everything that's happened has really shown me what's important in my life. What happened with the Masters showed me how easily things…"

"Theo, what are you saying?" She asked.

"When I was being held prisoner by the Overdrive Rangers, being in there didn't scare me. The thought of being hurt didn't scare me." He took her hand in his own and looked deeply into her eyes. "I wasn't even scared to die. There was only one thing that scared me."

"What was that?" Fran asked him.

"The thought that I might never see you again." He replied, getting down onto one knee. "Fran, I don't have a lot, and I know things have been crazy, but I…"

"Yes Theo!" She forced out through tears of joy, throwing her arms around him. "I want to be with you forever. Yes I'll marry you!"

Unfortunately, the moment war ruined as Snapper arrived, forcing them both to the ground and apart with an energy blast.

"Sorry to break this up, but Dai Shi requested the pleasure of your company." He sneered, approaching Fran. She began to pull something from her jacket, but Snapper was far too quick for her, swatting it out of her hand. He grabbed her wrist, twisting it painfully.

"Say your goodbyes Blue Ranger." He taunted Theo with a laugh. "She's never coming back."

With that, he disappeared. Theo crawled over to the item that had fallen out of Fran's grip, beholding it in disbelief as tears welled up in him.

It was an Orange Solar Morpher.


	12. The Mystery Revealed

General Snapper dragged Fran roughly into the throne room of Dai Shi's fortress. She knew he was far more powerful than her, especially without her morpher so struggling against him would be pointless. As he threw her to the floor in front of Dai Shi, she stroked her wrist gently, trying to sooth the painful bruising.

"So you chose to stand against me eh?" He greeted her. Fran lifted her head to face him as she got to her knees. "I would have thought after what happened to you the last time you were in my grasp you'd have seen sense and stayed out of this."

"I don't know what you're talking about." She lied. "I know the Rangers, but I just work in the pizza parlour."

Dai Shi gestured to Snapper, who grabbed her jersey, tearing it off roughly, exposing an extensive collection of bruises across her arms and torso. Fran wrapped her arms around herself to hold what was left of her clothing to her frame and maintain what was left of her dignity. She was inwardly thankful she was wearing a t-shirt underneath her jersey. Being held by Dai Shi was bad enough without being humiliated by being paraded around in front of his army half-naked.

"So how did you come by those?" He asked her, gesturing the bruises. "I saw you unconscious on the battlefield after you absorbed that blast. I know you're the Orange Ranger."

She held her wrist limply and looked away. Just as the boss had instructed, she had managed to keep herself out of sight, only breaking cover when there was no choice. She couldn't believe her identity had been discovered like this, she had no idea Dai Shi had been watching the battle from a nearby vantage point.

"Well, the only question to ask now is what to do with you." He thought aloud as he got up from his throne and began pacing the room. "Perhaps we could..."

"Unleash the fox!" Fran yelled, snapping to her feet and casting her fox spirit at him. Dai Shi turned and dashed both Fran and her fox spirit aside dismissively with a blast from his Zukado power. Fran tried to get back to her feet, only to collapse on the floor again, all but completely spent by the brutal assault. She had never been so gravely injured, and was now completely helpless before him. She could feel the pain of her fox spirit as she returned to her, resting deep within her. Snapper grabbed and held her in a tight grip as Dai Shi came over to her, observing her thoughtfully.

"Destroying you would end your torment far too quickly." He told her, pulling her glasses off her face. Fran wasn't so short-sighted she couldn't see as he crushed them into oblivion before her face. "You have spirit. Let's see if we can't do something about that. Give me your wrist."

General Snapper grabbed her left arm, forcing her to hold it out to him. She could barely make out the silver bracelet in his hand. She renewed her struggle to break free as she remembered Camille telling her about the restraining bracelet he forced her to wear all those months ago. Dai Shi placed it over her hand, upon which it shrunk down to be little more than skin-tight around her wrist. Fran held it to her chest, though made no attempt to remove it. She already knew she would be unable to do so; she had nowhere near enough power to overcome the bracelet's energy.

"I believe you know what this is." He taunted her. "I can now see and hear you at any time. I will be able to bring you to me at any time, and I will be able to punish you at any time."

The runes on the bracelet began to glow red, and Fran collapsed to the floor, writhing in agony as energy surged painfully throughout her body. Dai Shi laughed as he released her from his demonstration of the bracelet's power. Snapper pulled her back to her feet roughly.

"Escort her to her room." He instructed, cupping her cheek with his hand. Fran felt herself shudder at his touch, being more than aware of his capacity for cruelty. She knew that as long as she remained in his grasp, she would be in constant danger. "Make sure she's comfortable."

Snapper dragged her down the hallway towards the dungeon. He tossed her into a cell, sprawling her across the floor.

"Welcome to your new home Orange Ranger." He sneered as he locked the door. Fran crawled into the corner and curled up into a ball for comfort. She held her wrist close enough to be able to see it without her glasses. She traced the dark runes around its surface with her fingers as a few tears began to form in her eyes and her thoughts strayed to the man she loved, the man she'd agreed to marry only a short time beforehand.

"Help me Theo." She whimpered, feeling helplessness washing over her. "I'm sorry; I didn't want to lie to you. Please come quickly!"

Back at Jungle Karma, the others were simply relaxing having bid farewell to the masters. Camille and Flit were playing chess, while Dom and Casey were sparring on the training mats. RJ and Lily were just enjoying the all too rare opportunity to spend some time together, talking on the couch. Theo stormed into the room, throwing the door open with a loud bang, causing everyone to jump. Lily got up from the couch, making her way over to him with a look of concern on her face. His clothes were messed up, and he seemed to be limping as though he had been attacked. The look on his face was a mixture of sadness and anger.

"Theo what hap..."

"Where is she?" He snarled, pushing his way past his best friend. It was obvious he wasn't happy about something. As he saw Camille in the corner of the room, he began striding over towards her purposefully. The others could see that letting him get to her was not going to lead to anything good. Dom and RJ grabbed him, holding him back from her, while Lily held Camille protectively. Casey inserted himself between the two of them.

"Theo calm down, what's going on?" RJ asked him as he struggled against them. Theo threw Dom aside aggressively, and shoved RJ aside, before charging at Camille, taking her to the ground, clamping one hand around her throat, squeezing tightly as she fought for breath.

"General Snapper took Fran!" He roared, bringing his other hand up to strike, only to be stopped as Casey grabbed his wrist. "She's in danger because of you! It's your fault he took her!"

Casey finally managed to haul him off the woman he loved as Lily checked over her. Casey fell backwards to the floor, continuing to hold onto him tightly, tying him up in a strong grapple.

"Theo, what the hell is wrong with you?" He grunted struggling against his friend's frenzied attempts to get loose. "She has nothing to do with Dai Shi now; she has no control over him."

Dom grabbed Theo, pulling him back to his feet and restraining him as Casey got back up and came to the Rhino Ranger's assistance. RJ interjected himself in front of Theo.

"Theo, you have to calm down and tell us what's going on." RJ told him. "What happened to Fran?"

"And why are you trying to hurt Camille?" Casey asked him.

"General Snapper took Fran to Dai Shi as revenge for standing against him!" Theo snapped as he finally stopped struggling enough to allow Dom and Casey to trust him not to try anything and release him. "Something I'm sure SHE put her up to!"

"Theo, you're not making any sense." Casey responded. "It's been months since Dai Shi made a play for Camille. What does she have to do with this?"

"Ask her about this!" He yelled, throwing Fran's solar morpher into Casey's chest. Casey managed to catch it and inspected it in disbelief. "Go on, tell him Camille! Or should we call you Green Ranger!"

Camille sighed and looked to her feet as though hoping for answers. She never wanted anything to happen to Fran, but both of them knew the risks when they took the morphers. She pulled her own morpher out of her pocket and presented it to Casey.

"You?" RJ breathed, completely confused. Camille could feel every judgemental pair of eyes in the room on her as she continued to stare at the floor.

"Yes, it was us helping you." Camille confessed, sitting on the couch. "I was able to sneak into Dai Shi's fortress and steal back the eyes because of my chameleon power. Fran was watching your backs."

"Why didn't you tell us?" Casey asked her, feeling a little hurt that she couldn't confide in him. He would have loved having her fight by his side, so he couldn't fathom why they had been so secretive about the whole business.

"OK, let's start from the top." RJ suggested. "How did you two become Rangers?"

"I shouldn't say." Camille responded sadly. "There's more important..."

"Camille, I know you and Fran couldn't have made these morphers." RJ interrupted her. "I know..."

Camille put her morpher on her face and opened the communications relay.

"Boss, the others know." She began. "Dai Shi took Fran."

"Hook me up." He replied in a sigh. "It's time they knew the truth."

Camille took off her morpher and connected it to the surveillance system. RJ wasn't too surprised by the face staring back at them, though the others were.

"Hello Rangers." Dr. Hartford greeted them. "I guess I have some explaining to do."

"Andrew, how did you get these morphers to them?" RJ asked him. "I thought your lab was sealed as part of the Overdrive Ranger's bail agreement."

"RJ, I'm a multi-billionaire. I have means at my disposal." He informed him. "Besides, you know better than anyone how hard it is to stop me once I have a plan."

RJ conceded the point.

"So why all the secrecy?" Lily asked him. "Why didn't you just tell us you were planning...?"

"Lily, I had wanted to leave the Overdrive Rangers in Ocean Bluff to help you, but we couldn't because of the trial and the bail conditions. The court has confiscated their Overdrive Trackers, so I came up with another plan, but I couldn't risk the courts hearing about other Rangers turning up and applying for a breach of bail conditions verdict. I couldn't let the Rangers go to prison, so I asked the others to help out."

"He approached us in the hotel room the night they went back to San Angeles to turn themselves in." Camille explained. "He told us he'd sort us out with the morphers, and asked us to stay out of sight. He only wanted us to help out if we were really needed."

"So it was you who stole the eyes." Casey surmised. "Only you could have slipped into the fortress unseen and knew it well enough to navigate it." Camille nodded to confirm the supposition.

"Dr. Hartford knew the eyes were the secret to freeing the masters and asked me to steal them." She told them. "I also tried to free the masters, but I couldn't open their restraints, so I was forced to leave with only the eyes."

"I analysed the eyes and Fed-Exed them from a PO Box." Dr. Hartford continued. "I began forming ideas for a device that could use the energy of the eyes to release them from Dai Shi's control, which was when Fran contacted me to tell me about your Claw Cannon idea. She E-mailed me your schematics. I knew your idea would lead to the Master's destruction, and I couldn't let you do that. I knew none of you would be able to live yourselves if you did that, so I adapted my own device into a power filter."

"I didn't notice you taking any risks." Theo grumbled. "Fran could have been killed by that blast! She's been kidnapped and they could be doing anything to her. How could you let them do this?"

"Theo, I'm sorry. If I could have acted myself I would have. I never asked them to do anything I wouldn't have done myself if I could." He told him. "They volunteered for all of it, I swear."

"So why did the blast hurt Fran?" RJ asked him.

"I didn't have time to complete the design before you went into battle. Fran insisted on using it anyway." He told them. "She powered it up using her own morphing energy. I tried to stop her, but she took the risk anyway. She's the bravest person I know. You should all be proud of her."

"We are." Theo sighed as his tears began to fall. "But none of this is helping get Fran back. We need to do something."

"I can get you into the fortress." Camille told them. "I know a way to get there we can all take."

"It's too risky." RJ stated flatly.

"We can't go into Dai Shi's fortress, his entire army's in there!" Casey interjected. "It'd be suicide!"

"Well I for one am going to get her back!" Theo stated, moving over to Camille. "I may not be thrilled about everything you all did, but I'm going to get her back."

"Theo, we all care about Fran." Lily said quietly, pulling him aside. "We need to take this carefully. We..."

"Lily I love her." He told her. "When General Snapper took her I'd asked her to marry me. She said yes Lily."

"Theo, I had no idea." She gasped, comforting her long time friend with a comforting hug. "We'll get her back, I promise."

"I can't lose her Lily." He whimpered, pulling into her. "Not now, I can't lose her now, she's everything to me."

Back in the fortress, Fran strained to focus on the door as a dark shape appeared in the doorway. She heard a scrape of metal on stone as a dish was placed on the floor and slid inside.

"Eat!" General Scorch commanded in a gruff voice. "I suggest you take advantage of this. Dai Shi may not keep you around much longer."

"If he was going to destroy me, he'd have done it by now." She responded, crawling along the floor until she was close enough to see the dish clearly. "Bread and water? A little clichéd isn't it?"

"You should be happy he's giving you anything at all." Scorch sneered in response. "The only reason I don't destroy you myself is because of his orders. Make no mistake human, when he tires of you..."

"Something tells me he intends keeping me around for a while." She replied, gesturing to her restraining bracelet. "So Dai Shi orders you to keep a human alive and you do so without question? I thought you Phantom Beasts were meant to be powerful."

"My Rinzin power dwarfs his pathetic Zukado!" He snarled in response. "I am far more powerful..."

"Which is why you're taking orders from him like a lackey." She interrupted, taunting him. "And the Rangers were so worried about you..."

"When Dai Shi becomes our Phantom Beast King, the Rangers will fall!" She roared, a blast of flame erupting from his hand, missing her head by inches.

"You plan to make someone less powerful than you, a HUMAN your king?" She asked him, chuckling a little at the notion. "All as part of your campaign to erase humans from existence you plan to kneel before one? You really are an idiot aren't you?"

Scorch threw open the door, striding inside and grabbing Fran by the throat, lifting her until her feet were no longer touching the ground.

"I will follow Dai Shi for now, since it is in my interests." He told her. "But I will kneel before no human. ALL humans will be crushed underfoot, and the Phantom Beasts will take their rightful place as rulers of this world. Mark my words slave; you will not last long here."

He threw her back to the floor and left, locking the door behind him. As he left, Fran gathered her meagre provisions and began eating, before casting a glance to her restraining bracelet. Her plan had already begun.

In his throne room, Dai Shi dismissed the other Generals and sat alone. He could hear everything that happened in that cell.

"I always suspected you would try to and dethrone me Scorch." He mused to himself. "You are useful to me. I just need to think of a way to make you useful in a way you will not survive."

Back at Jungle Karma, the others were discussing how best to go about rescuing Fran.

"There really isn't any other option." Theo remarked. "We need to go into the fortress."

"I'm not thrilled about the idea." RJ sighed. "We're leaving ourselves vulnerable. Besides, we don't even know..."

"She's alive." Theo interrupted him sharply.

"Theo, we can't be..."

"I know she is." He stated flatly. "I can feel it. She's alright, but we don't have much time."

"I can get us in and out." Camille told them. "A small party would be able to get through more easily than all of us."

"I'll go with you." Theo told them. "If anyone's going for Fran, it'll be me."

"Fine, but take Dom with you too." RJ told them. "Between the three of you, you should be able to get in and out without raising too much attention. The rest of us will stay behind in case Dai Shi tries anything."

"Good luck Theo." Casey implored him, handing him Fran's morpher. "I hope she's alright."

"I know she is." He told him. "If I even think for one minute she's not, I get stiff. I can't breathe and my guts get all tight. I'm no good to her like that."

"We're all here for you Theo." Lily comforted him, hugging him tightly. "You're being really strong..."

"Fran has been stronger and braver than I'll ever deserve." He stated. "Now it's my turn to be strong for her."

Back in her cell, Fran was curled into a tight ball for warmth in her draughty cell, but suddenly felt a warm feeling coming over her. Her head rose up from the hard, stone floor and sat up in the corner, and for the first time since she'd been snatched from her fiancée's side, she smiled. She didn't know how, but she just knew Theo was coming for her.


	13. The Rescue Mission

Fran was lost in her thoughts of Theo as General Scorch came back to her room. Hearing the loud click of the lock on her cell door triggering, she was snapped back to her predicament, beholding the Phantom Beast General.

"I take it it's time to change my sawdust." She snorted as he came into the room. "Tell Dai Shi..."

"He wants you to come to him." Scorch interrupted her sharply. "It would be best for you if you went."

"You know, I kind of like my suite." She replied sarcastically. "I'll stay here."

She felt every fibre in her body burning painfully as she collapsed to the floor, screaming in agony. Dai Shi was obviously using her bracelet to ensure her compliance with his request for her presence.

"You will come with me." Scorch told her. "Or Dai Shi will call for you himself."

She got to her feet, limping towards the Phantom Beast General with as much authority as she could muster while cradling her left wrist to her abdomen. She still hoped that Theo would come for her soon, but she had a feeling things were not going to be pleasant until he arrived.

Back at JKP, Theo, Dom and Camille stood ready to undertake what easily had the potential to be their most dangerous mission yet. Theo couldn't think of anything but Fran. Looking forlornly at a cheap, Casio watch she had given him when he forgot his, he felt every second of her absence in his heart. It hurt to know she was in danger, even more so because she had risked herself for him and the others.

"I want you guys to get in, and get out." RJ reminded them. "His entire army's in there. Don't take any stupid risks."

"We won't." Dominic assured him. "I have as little desire for a showdown with the whole posse as anyone."

"Theo, are you OK?" He asked the Blue Ranger. For obvious reasons his reaction to the whole affair would have a pivotal role in the whole outcome.

"I'm fine." He snapped. "Camille, show us the door."

Fran was led back to Dai Shi's throne room to find a thick, heavy iron gate between her and Dai Shi. She knew what he had planned couldn't be good, but she held herself with dignity and courage before him.

"Are you this scared of me?" She asked him, gesturing to the gate.

"Not quite, you will understand soon." He replied as Scorch left the room. Another gate slammed down behind her, cutting off her escape route.

"Now, let us talk about your life." He began, gesturing to a mirror beside his throne. "Or rather, your lack of one."

"You want to break me with the fact I was a geek in high school?" She snapped. "I know I was. Hell, I'm a geek now; you'll have to do better than..."

Her words ended as she saw a fresh-faced young man in his early twenties ice-skating around a rink in hockey gear. Her heart froze and she felt her chest tighten as she beheld the image.

"Take that away." She beckoned him.

"But why? You get to see daddy dearest BEFORE you ruined his life." Dai Shi taunted her. As much as she wanted to look away, to preserve her sanity, she continued to watch. An unseen force compelled her to see this.

"You were born in 1989 were you not?" He asked her. "That's exactly when everything went wrong for your family."

She was compelled to behold the mirror as she saw the young man score a masterful slap-shot into the net. He gestured with his free hand to the stands.

"Those were talent scouts for the Pittsburgh Penguins." Dai Shi told her. "Of course..."

The next moment, she saw another player fly into the view of the mirror, scything down across his shoulder with his stick. He was immediately thrown off the ice, though Fran couldn't notice. Instead, all she saw was his point of view as he watched the talent scouts leave, and more importantly, his view straying to the reason he'd even gone to this tryout, Fran and her mother.

"He risked everything for you." Dai Shi whispered. "And he lost it all as a result. That shoulder injury ended his career before it began."

"Stop this." She whimpered, beholding the events on the screen. "I beg you, please stop this."

The picture advanced only a couple of years and Fran saw what was undeniably the same young man, though the years hadn't been kind. His hair was receding and his build had atrophied quite badly. A toddler approached him on hands and knees, dumping some toys at his feet.

"Please, stop this!" Fran pleaded with him. "Daddy, please I..."

"What do you want?" The former hockey player asked. "I work to give you your clothes. I bust my ass to get you those toys!"

"Please, I beg you, stop this!" Fran wailed as she recalled the repressed memory with pointed detail. He picked up the toddler and threw her across the room. Fran wept as she saw this.

"Do you know how much work is out there for a god damned cripple who can't lift his arm over his head? Shut it you ungrateful little..."

"Daddy, I didn't do anything!" Fran wailed as she beheld the scene unfolding. "Please, stop it, it hurts it..."

Dai Shi chuckled with contentment as he realised his plan was working. He observed the portal between Ocean Bluff and his fortress. He knew he could count on company soon.

Theo prepared himself for the battle ahead with deep meditation. None of the others could shake him out of his mood, though that was hardly a surprise. In his head, he was trying to reach Fran, to ease her and let her know he was coming. Unfortunately, all he could see was fog.

Fran continued to watch the mirror, seeing the scene a couple of months later. Her mother cradled the infant defensively as her father rampaged around the living room, smashing furniture.

"Donald, I know you're angry, but we're doing all we can!" She pleaded with him. "It isn't Fran's fault it..."

"It's all her fault!" He roared, rounding on his wife, getting into her face menacingly. "I was injured in that college game the previous week. I wouldn't have even played that game if it wasn't for her!"

"Donald, you can't keep blaming her for everything!" Her mother protested. "Please, it's just the drink talking. She's your daughter, you love her, and you love me. You can't keep hurting us like this."

"Leave her Mary." He beckoned her. "She's been a cancer on this family since she infected..."

"Donald, please stop this!" She implored her drunken husband. "She's our daughter, she deserves..."

Her words were cut off as the back of her husband's hand slapped her hard, sending her to the floor. The infant fell to the ground, landing hard and beginning to cry. Her mother began to crawl to her daughter, only to be cut off and doubled over in pain as she was kicked roughly in the ribs by her husband.

"Leave her!" He roared. "She is the reason we're nobodies. She is the reason we'll never get out of this hell hole of a neighbourhood. She ruined everything for us!"

Fran fell to her knees as she saw this, unable to cope.

"You see Fox Ranger; you really have chosen the wrong side." Dai Shi continued.

"I beg you, please stop!" Fran pleaded, all but completely smashed into submission by the display.

"No, you need to see the true depths of human cruelty." He answered, gesturing back to the mirror. It was now a little later. The infant Fran was now around five years old and cycling around on her tricycle. She saw her father as usual watching the television, sipping beer despite the early hour and lamenting over how much he had lost. The little Fran saw him looking miserable and picked up a ball, coming towards him.

"No, Please!" Fran beckoned Dai Shi. "Don't!"

Donald looked down to his daughter, seeing her looking up at him with hope and love, presenting the ball to him.

"Want to play catch daddy?" She asked him.

"No, I want to rest. Go away." He snapped, opening another beer can as he answered. The toddler Fran climbed onto the arm of the chair as he said this.

"Can I have some?" She asked, gesturing to the beer can. "It looks yummy!"

Donald shoved her off the arm of the chair, never even looking her direction. Not when she fell, not when she landed, and definitely not when she began crying.

"For God's sake Donald, what are you doing?" Mary yelled, picking up the screaming toddler. "She's hurt!"

Fran wept a little more in Dai Shi's presence as she recalled her repressed memories. She knew what came next.

In the clinic, Mary paced the floor in worry. She was eventually approached by a doctor.

"Fran has broken her left shoulder." He informed her. "Is there anything you want to tell me?"

"No." She replied. "We're fine."

"But madam, there's..."

"I said we're fine." Mary replied. "We'll be alright."

He young intern wasn't at all happy with the resolution to the situation. He knew damn fine that the injuries to the child and even those to the mother were inflicted by a violent assault. He checked to make sure his resident was not within earshot, and then approached her, handing her a card.

"This is MY number." He told her. "Please, I know you love him but if nothing else, look at what he's doing to her. Call me and I'll help you. Get her away from him."

Fran closed her eyes and tried to hold onto that. It was one of the few major moments of humanity she'd seen in that image.

"He only wanted ONE THING!"

"He took care of us!" Fran sneered as she curled into a ball, trying to defend herself against the mental onslaught. "He helped us..."

"Until he realised you were part of the deal." Dai Shi interrupted her. The image shifted to a slop house in the university district.

"Mary, I love you." He began. "But we need to talk about Fran."

"What do we need to talk about?" She asked.

"We all love crashing at your place." He began. "We all love..."

"You want me to get rid of her?" Mary interrupted. "I'm sorry but..."

"She's a pretty girl, she'll live." The sleazy intern told her. "She'll be taken care of."

Mary never even answered. Instead she just gathered her things and left the room. That was the last time she ever saw the young intern. Returning home, she paid the babysitter and went into Fran's room, seeing her sleeping there peacefully.

"Maybe your dad was right." Her mom whispered. "Maybe you are a cancer on this family. I've just lost him because of you."

She came over to the bed, stroking her daughter's hair as she slept, tears rolling down her face. "You've ruined our lives."

Fran wept loudly as she heard her mother's hurtful words, feeling the pain more deeply than she thought possible. It was then she realised why. The pain was also affecting her fox spirit. It had been injured by Dai Shi's Zukado power. She now realised what he was trying to do. She knew now why the grill was there between her and Dai Shi. He was trying to force her to lose herself to her animal spirit. She remembered what happened when RJ had been lost to the wolf spirit and the thought of going the same way terrified her.

Theo, Dom and Camille arrived at the portal, preparing for their mission.

"I'll act as point." Camille told them. "As long as we don't attract too much attention to ourselves we should be fine."

Dom came over to Theo, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Are you sure you want to do this?" He asked him. "I know how much this it messing with you. Camille and I could do it, are you sure you'll be ok?"

"I'll be fine." He said softly.

"As long as you're sure." He replied. "Hey, I'm more worried about you."

"Me?" Dominic asked.

"Yeah, I'm the jaguar and Camille's the chameleon. Stealth goes with the territory." He joked weakly. "You're the rhino."

"I guess I see your point." He chuckled. "Anyway, are you ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be." He replied. "Let's go."

Back in the fortress, Fran felt herself losing her mind as Dai Shi continued to emotionally torture her with images of her childhood. The mirror showed the day she returned home to find her mom crying on the couch. She saw a half empty bottle of gin on the floor and could smell the drink on her breath.

"Mom, what's wrong?" She asked, coming over to her. Her mom shoved her away roughly, causing her to fall over the coffee table.

"The police were just here, they found Donald dead in a back alley." She snarled at her. "He's dead because of you!"

"Mom, I'm sorry." Fran replied, starting to get off the floor. "I didn't..."

"You ruined everything you ungrateful little bitch!" Her mother roared, surging over to her and pinning her to the floor. She slapped her hard across the face. "He's dead because of you; I wish you'd never been born!"

She grabbed the bottle and brought it down again and again. Fran quickly lost consciousness under the relentless assault. "I wish you'd never been born!"

Fran could feel the fox taking over, seeking a way to escape the torment. She struggled for all she was worth to stop it. She sat in the lotus position, closing her eyes and beginning to shallow her breathing, meditating as Theo had trained her in the hope of maintaining control, but a surge of pain from her restraining bracelet broke her concentration, leaving her writhing in pain on the floor.

"You're not getting out of it that easily." He taunted her. "Not when the best is still to come."

She looked at the mirror through her tears already knowing what was coming. It was the day she returned home from school to find the house empty.

"Mom?" She asked weakly. She was used to finding her passed out drunk on the floor, or in the bedroom with her latest boyfriend, but this time she was nowhere to be found. She came over to the table to find a letter addressed to her in her mother's handwriting. She opened it, finding a note and a twenty dollar bill. She collapsed to the floor, overcome with tears. Now she truly was alone in the world.

"You really are more than worthless. You're a plague on everyone you touch." Dai Shi told her. "Your dad drank himself into an early grave just to get away from you."

"Shut up!" She wailed, slamming her fists into the grill separating her from her tormentor. "Shut up!"

"Your mother skipped town with the first deadbeat that would have her." He continued. "Your life always has been one sick joke."

"Shut UP!" She roared, swiping between the bars, opening long red gashes on his cheek. Dai Shi wiped some blood off his face and inspected it, laughing. Fran looked down in horror at her hands, seeing them beginning to form into claws.

"My work here is done." He taunted her. "And if I'm not mistaken, your rescue party should be here soon."

Theo, Dom and Camille made their way quietly down the corridors, searching for Fran. Making their way to the dungeon, they found all the cells empty.

"Where is she?" Theo asked.

"He must have her with him." Camille suggested. "The throne room's this way."

They continued to make their way towards the throne room, finding their way unhindered.

"Does anyone else think this is going way too smoothly?" Dom asked. Theo arrived in the throne room, before a grill slammed down, separating him from the others. Dom and Camille turned around to find themselves confronted by dozens of Rinshi warriors.

"Why do I always have to be right?" He sighed as he and Camille prepared for battle. "Jungle beast, SPIRIT UNLEASHED!"

Theo turned from them to see Fran huddled on the floor in a foetal ball and Dai Shi on the opposite side of a grill. He opened a secret door behind him.

"Enjoy your lives together." He taunted him as he left. "What's left of them."

Theo approached Fran, taking her into his arms.

"Fran, I'm here." He told her. "I'm..."

A loud snarl cut him off as she swung around, slashing a deep wound across his abdomen. He looked up in horror at the woman he loved, seeing her in her beast form, approaching him with murderous intent.

"Fran, please no!" He pleaded, scrambling back to his feet and preparing to defend himself. "This can't be happening, please!"

Theo felt his tears stinging his eyes and his heart completely left him, leaving him with no will to fight. He knew she wasn't acting of her own volition, but he still couldn't bring himself to hurt her. It wasn't in him to do so. He was trapped with no way out, and the woman he loved was now a mindless, savage beast intent on destroying anything it perceived as a threat, and apparently that included him. Theo prepared for the inevitable onslaught, moving away from her and circling the room, hoping to find some way out of this situation. He couldn't lose her now, not even if it cost him his life.


	14. Dai Shi's Fortress

The fox-beast lunged at Theo, claws ready for the attack. He pulled out of her way a little, watching her sail past him as he continued to feel the pain of losing the woman he loved to her animal spirit. Ran rounded on him, saliva dripping from her jaws as she prepared for the attack.

"Fran it's me, Theo!" He beckoned her tearfully, hoping to reach her through the beast's anguish and pain. "Please, don't do this!"

Fran could see and hear his pleas, but was not in control of her actions. The fox spirit had taken over and was now threatening the life of the one person she would never hurt in the entire world. She struggled for control, but the beast was too strong for her.

"Fran, I don't have much, but without you I have nothing." He implored her. "I am nothing! Please, I need you, you need to fight this."

The beast leapt upon him, tearing at him savagely with its claws. Theo managed to get his feet into its abdomen and shove it away before snapping back to his feet. He looked at the creature, hoping that the woman he loved was still inside it somewhere. He tore what was left of his tunic from his torso and throwing it aside.

"Fran, I don't want to hurt you." He willed her. "I can't hurt you, you mean far too much to me."

The beast snarled as Fran felt his words in her soul. He loved her, but what did that matter? Everyone who had loved her had hurt her, her father, her mother, everyone. Why would Theo be any different? She swiped at him with her claws, tearing open his cheek and knocking him onto the floor. She mounted his chest and prepared for the death blow. Theo looked up into the face of the beast and saw a glimmer of hope. He saw tears in its eyes. Fran was still in there, even if she was weakened by the creature.

"Fran, I bought you a ring." He told her as the beast contemplated the prey it had at its mercy. "I want to be with you for the rest of my life."

Inside the beast, Fran could feel the sincerity of his words and couldn't contain her joy. She knew Theo was different. Everyone in her life up until she met the Rangers had treated her with neglect at best and outright cruelty at worst. She couldn't ever think of a time Theo had hurt her deliberately, and she knew he never would.

"I love you Fran." He continued as the beast backed up a little, allowing him to regain his feet. He pulled a small box from his pocket and presented the ring to her.

"I said I don't have much, this was all I could afford." He explained, showing the ring to her. "Even the credit payments on this have wiped out my savings for the next three months, but I don't care. I love you."

The creature backed up, falling to its knees as he continued to speak. He could see the tears staining its fur falling more readily and knew he had tapped into his best chance of getting her back.

"Fran, you're the strongest, bravest person I've ever known, you have to fight this!" He implored her tearfully. "You have to come back to me, you have to..."

The beast swiped with its paw, connecting with a telling blow to his jaw and sending him flying. Theo pulled himself to his feet, watching it approaching. He stood with his arms by his sides, no longer even defending himself.

"If you can't come back to me, then you'll have to kill me." He told her, his heart pounding at a thousand beats a minute as he watched her come towards him, the beast's own tears still falling. "I don't want to live without you Fran, I can't live without you."

The fox-beast came to him, standing before him. He could feel its warm breath against his skin, but felt no fear, only sadness. It raised its paw ready to strike.

"I won't try and stop you." He told her, his voice cracking a little in his despair. "I love you."

Inside the fox beast, Fran felt the heartache of Theo's despair. He had been the only one in her whole life who had loved her unconditionally and treated her with tenderness. He had shown her a life she never knew she deserved before. She had known nothing but cruelty and humiliation from those who should have cared for her since she was a child, yet he had always made her feel important and needed. With renewed determination, she fought to regain control of her own mind.

"My dad was a drunken loser who blamed his own misfortune on me!" She roared as she struggled against her fox spirit. "My mom was a failure, but I won't be. Just because my parents were losers doesn't mean I will be, I will not be a failure!"

Theo felt the beast's grip on him loosen as it collapsed to the floor, thrashing around as though in pain. It began to shift periodically between beast and human as Fran struggled to bring her fox spirit back under control.

"Fran, you can win this!" Theo implored her. "Please keep fighting, please come back to me."

Fran finally stopped struggling and slumped to the floor, barely conscious. She shifted completely back to human form as she regained her humanity. Theo rushed to her side, cradling her in his arms.

"Fran, how are you?" He asked her, sweeping a tear from her cheek with his thumb.

"RJ's right." She croaked weakly. "Fighting with your animal spirit? Definitely not fun."

"I'll get you out of here." Theo told her, helping her to her feet. "It looks like we have a fight on our hands."

"Well I guess I better help out." She stated, pulling her solar morpher from his pocket.

"Are you sure you're up to this?" He asked her. "I mean after everything..."

"With you beside me, I have all the strength I'll ever need and more." She replied. "Besides, Dai Shi broke my glasses. I can't see more than a few feet without them. At least in my Ranger form I'll be able to see where I'm going."

"Straight into my heart." Theo replied, placing the ring on her finger. "Now and forever."

Fran pulled him into herself, kissing him passionately and letting all the horrible events of the last few hours melt into nothing. Her past was painful, but insignificant. Theo was her future and her life now. With him there, anything was possible.

"Theo, we need to get out of here!" Dom called through the grill. "The goon patrol's getting restless."

"But what about this?" Fran asked, gesturing to her bracelet.

"Come to the bars and hold still." Dom told her. She held out her left hand as he took a massive swipe, slicing through it with his rhino blade. She rubbed her wrist as she at last felt the release from its grasp.

"Lead us off." Theo beckoned his fiancée. "You've earned it."

"Jungle beast!" They called together, placing their solar morphers on their faces and activating them. "Spirit unleashed!"

Later that night back in JKP, it was certainly interesting as Fran and Camille explained everything that had happened to lead to them becoming Rangers. Camille and Casey made their way down to the restaurant to talk; clearly he wasn't happy about Camille going behind his back that way.

"I think that show you wanted to watch is on." Lily suggested diplomatically, nodding in the direction of the TV. RJ and Dom got the hint and headed off to the TV.

"Thanks Lil." Theo said gratefully. "I really want to talk to Fran."

"I thought you would." She replied. Theo looked at her for a second.

"Alone!" He told her.

"I'm not here." Lily giggled.

"Goodnight Lily." He chuckled as he led Fran out onto the balcony, shutting the door behind him, much to Lily's disappointment. She always had to know what was going on.

"Theo, I'm really sorry I never told you." Fran began, pre-empting his first question. "I wanted to tell you, I really did, but..."

"I understand." Theo cut her off, kissing her softly. "You did it for the Overdrive Rangers, I know that."

"Theo, when my spirit overtook me, I came back because of you." She continued, looking out over the city as her tears began to well up in her. "Everyone I've ever loved other than you had done nothing but hurt and humiliate me. I spent so long hearing that I was worthless I believed it myself until I met you."

"Fran, you are by far the most courageous person I've ever met." He told her, placing a hand on her shoulder. "I think it's amazing how you've turned out. I don't know what I would have done if I'd had the start you did."

"When the three of you came into the restaurant at first, I just knew you were different." She sobbed. "I felt it the moment you walked in. I saw you and I fell in love with you the moment I saw you."

"Fran, I never knew you felt this strongly." He whispered. "I liked you, but I never knew..."

"Theo, you're all that's made life worth living for longer than you realise." She told him truthfully. "I love you."

He came over to her, taking her in his arms and looking into her eyes deeply.

"I meant what I said to that monster." He told her seriously. "If I'd lost you, I wouldn't have wanted to live. I love you so much Fran, I just wish I could offer you more..."

"You offer me more than enough." She told him, kissing him and looking at her ring happily. "If you're here with me, that's all I'll ever need."

As the pair embraced, nothing else mattered. Only they existed in the world, and that was just fine with them.

Dominic stirred and came to on the couch, looking around at the darkened room. Noting the darkness outside, he surmised that it was late and the others had gone to bed. He must have fallen asleep during the crappy straight-to-TV movie that had been playing. He couldn't even remember what it was about, much less the title. As he got off the couch, he heard a voice behind him.

"You did well today rescuing Fran." Master Mao told him. "I've never been prouder of you my son."

"Don't call me that." He hissed in response through his teeth.

"Why not, it's the truth." Mao told him.

"You were never my father!" He snarled, rounding on the spirit of the old master. "You lied to me since the day I was born! You cast me aside like..."

"If your objective is to hurt me as much as you've been hurt you needn't bother." Mao replied, holding up a hand to stop his tirade. "Letting you and Jarrod go was by far the most painful thing I've ever done."

"Why did you do it?" Dominic asked him as his tears began. "Mom and dad never gave a crap about me! You left me..."

"I didn't think I could take care of you properly and also maintain my responsibilities as Pai Zhuq." He replied. "I thought the families I left you with would take care of you. I was wrong, that's something I can only apologise for, and though I know I can never repay that karmic debt, I hope that one day both you and Jarrod will find the strength in your hearts to forgive me."

"I don't know if I can." Dominic replied honestly. "Mom and dad made sure I knew I meant nothing to them, I felt worthless until I came to Pai Zhuq"

"I did all I could to make you feel loved and appreciated." Mao stated. "I only wish I had gotten to raise you myself. I know I was wrong to send you away. There's something I think you should see. Go to RJ's safe."

"But I don't know the comb..."

"It's 2517316." Mao interrupted. "What you seek is in an old wooden cigar box."

Dom punched in the combination, opening the door and pulling out the cigar box. He sat down with the box in his lap and opened it, seeing a collection of photos and assorted mementos.

"Is this me?" He asked, pulling out a picture of a much younger Master Mao and a blonde woman in a hospital maternity ward. She was cradling a newborn baby in her arms tenderly.

"Yes, that was taken only an hour after you were born." Mao told him.

"She was beautiful." Dominic remarked, seeing the first image he ever had of his true mother. "What was her name?"

"Her name was Christine." Mao told him, sitting on the couch next to Dominic. "She was as beautiful in spirit as she was in person. She stole my heart. The day she died I felt my whole world fall apart."

Dominic felt something he never thought he would since he'd found out about his true parentage. He pitied his father.

"Did she suffer?" He asked as tears welled up in him. Mao looked away unable to look him in the face, though he nodded.

"She suffered every day until she died." He replied. "She knew only a couple of weeks into her pregnancy with Jarrod, but she couldn't harm him. She kept her illness a secret, even from me."

"Surely there must have been signs." Dominic suggested.

"She was so weak and nauseous when she carried you I never noticed." Mao explained. "I just thought it was natural. She only told me the day Jarrod was born. She knew I loved her so much I'd have insisted she got help, but she didn't want to harm Jarrod. By the time he was born it was too late to treat her and she knew it."

"What happened?" Dominic asked.

"I did what I could." Mao replied. "When the time came, I held her hand, I kissed her and I said goodbye."

"Why couldn't you have told me this before?" Dominic asked wiping his face with his sleeve.

"I didn't know how." Mao replied. "Both you and Jarrod were so young I didn't know if you'd be able to cope. As time went on, it just became harder to tell you and easier to let you go on believing the lie."

"But it would have meant so much to us." Dominic told him. "You know how much I cared for you. You know how close we became. It would have meant the world to me to know."

"Would you have thanked me for telling you?" Mao asked. Dominic looked away unable to answer.

"But it hurt so much." Dominic sighed.

"I know I have no right to ask, but I want you to promise me something." Mao pressed on.

"What?" Dom asked him, all but completely spent emotionally.

"Your brother needs you." Mao told him. "I want you to save Jarrod."

Dominic turned to face his true father, tears running down his face. "I promise." He replied.

"I know I haven't always done right by you, but I want you to know I've always been proud of you." Mao told him as he faded away. "I love you, my son."

Dominic watched him fade away and turned back to his own tears.

"I love you too." He responded. "Dad!"

Fin.


End file.
